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Library of The Theological Seminary 
PRINCETON » NEW JERSEY 
REDD 
FROM THE LIBRARY OF 
ROBERT ELLIOTT SPEER 
EN 
BRYTS oO. ONS ba 24 
Langenskj old, Margareta, 


1889- 
Baron Paul Nicolay 


fica ty pe C. Shar 
on Corot 
BY fd PLL LR Om 


| Kod 192 





BARON PAUL NICOLAY 
A Biography 








Digitized by the Internet Archive 
in 2022 with funding from 
Princeton Theological Seminary Library 


https://archive.org/details/baronpaulnicolayOOlang 





BARON PAUL NICOLAY 


Vi 


BARON PAUL NICOLAY 


Christian Statesman and Student Leaderan vf PRINGEFS 


Northern and Slavic Europ? 


Wh RY A 
GRETA LANGENSKJOLD 





hurry 


Translated from the Swedish by 
RUTH EVELYN WILDER 


ILLUSTRATED 





GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY 


COPYRIGHT, 1924, 
BY GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY 


BARON PAUL NICOLAY 


— B — 


PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 


FOREWORD 


By Miss RutH RovusE 


SECRETARY TO THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF THE WORLD’S 
STUDENT CHRISTIAN FEDERATION 


PIONEER work in connection with the World’s 
Student Christian Federation brought me into a close 
fellowship of work with Baron Nicolay during a 
period of twelve years, 1903-1915. The years that 
have passed since we last met have thrown details 
into the background. Only the more clearly do I see 
in the foreground the strong main features of Paul 
Nicolay’s work and character. As I meditate on these, 
two words spring to mind: 

“It is required in stewards that they be found faith- 
ful.” Above all things and in all things Paul Nicolay 
“kept the faith”: faith to God, faith to man, faith to 
his call. Once having seen a thing to be true, he lived 
by that sight unwaveringly; once having heard a call, 
he answered at all hazards; once having made a prom- 
ise, he kept it at all costs. As a study in the meaning 
of Vocation and Stewardship, Paul Nicolay’s life 
will help hundreds to find their own life-work, and to 
carry it through, come what may. 

“His works do follow him.” Paul Nicolay’s work 
did not end in 1919. He gave his life to and for the 
Russian Student Christian Movement, and in its life 


he lives to-day. Since his death that movement has 
Vv 


Vi Foreword 


passed through famine, dungeon, fire and sword. It 
is still under the harrow. But it is stronger than 
ever; like its founder, it cannot be discouraged, it 
cannot take its hand from the plough. It has heard 
a clear call and has no thought but to obey. 

He lives again in its leaders. Almost all the younger 
Russian leaders of the Movement, and of similar 
movements amongst the Russian Diaspora, are men 
and women whose spiritual life owes very much to 
their contact with Baron Nicolay and to his faithful 
shepherding of their souls. In Bulgaria, in Prague, 
in the Baltic States, they are passing on what he taught 
them by word and life. “Doesn’t he remind you of 
Baron Nicolay?’ we say to each other, as we see the 
way they work. 

But not Russians alone learnt to know God through 
him. Swedes, Finlanders, Norwegians, English, 
Americans—from all these I have heard the same 
testimony: “I shall never forget what Baron Nicolay 
said at Conference.” “TI shall never lose the 
impression Baron Nicolay made on me.” The strong- 
est evangelist in the Bulgarian Orthodox Church to- 
day is one of his disciples, a Bulgarian, who did his 
theological studies in Russia, was a member of the 
Movement there and gratefully acknowledges his debt 
to its leader. 

The best one can wish for this book is that it should 
pass on to thousands more that Call to Faithfulness 
which Paul Nicolay gave to so many in his lifetime. 


Wimbledon, 
London, S. W. 





CHAPTER 


CONTENTS 


Ancestry | a 
Childhood and Youth . 
Years of Consecration . 
First Seeds Sown . 
Among Russia’s Students 


In Work for the World’s Student Christian 
Federation 


In Finland . 

At Home and Among Friends 
The Time of Departure 

Soli Deo Gloria 


PAGE 
13 
23 
4A 
61 


Ol 


158 
178 
204 
219 


248 


hea 
A 





ILLUSTRATIONS 


BARON IPAUL NICOLA). lilies) susen lt wa Ee rontis piece 


M ONREPOS . . . . .| . e .| ° 


RATTEN IGOLA Vf AT THETAGE OF THREE. bi) vine 
PAUL NICOLAY AND HIS THREE SISTERS, 1870 . =. 
CEN COLA VA LOO A Wists! omelet ic tlhe e : 
Mi PeAMILY, COAT OFDARMS (hi sy a DUNE hie vats 
IRCA RE MOL ON Ko din ot bese beger MÄSS hs 


STUDENT CONFERENCE AT TAVASTEHUS, FINLAND, 
1913 PRUE URL BSR Ave fa ROMA ha REN ps fa BIG eat iQ! I 


ON BOARD THE YACHT "LADY?  . Å : 4 : 


BARONESS SOPHIE NICOLAY (THE MOTHER OF PAUL 
NICOLAY ) UE ALR Osta Ne gas Teena en 


LUDWIGSTEIN, BARON NICOLAY’S PLACE OF BURIAL . 


THE GRAVE . ° . ° ° ° ° ° ° 


PAGE 
32 
32 
40 
48 
48 

160 


192 


192 


208 
224 


224 





BARON PAUL NICOLAY 
A Biography 





BARON PAUL NICOLAY 


CHAPTER I 
Ancestry 


“‘QUSTINE et abstine”—these words formed the 

motto emblazoned on the coat of arms of the 
Nicolay family, and a silver cross on a blue field and 
surrounded by four golden stars was their sign. No 
better motto nor more inspiring device could the last 
of the Nicolays—he whose life we are about to de- 
pict—have chosen for himself, if the choice had been 
his to make. From his ancestors he inherited them 
as well as many of the characteristics which formed 
the nucleus of his being throughout his life: earnest- 
ness, faithfulness, and a tendency toward simple rig- 
orous habits. These characteristics became a useful 
antidote to the other half of his inheritance which was 
calculated to afford his character many a hard test: 
the inherited position of the cosmopolitan, the man of 
the world, the possessor of entail property of great 
value. 

The Nicolays originated in Sweden, but as early as 
the year 1500 one of the family moved to Liibeck, and 
one hundred and twenty-five years later we find his 
descendants in Alsace, in Strassburg. Here, in the 


year 1737, Ludwig Heinrich Nicolay was born, he 
13 3 


14 Baron Paul Nicolay 


who was to become the father of this line of nobility. 
He was the son of a stern and despotically minded 
magistrate, and according to the will of his father en- 
tered upon a legal course of studies. Throughout his 
whole life, however, he maintained his great literary 
and artistic interests. After finishing his university 
course he was sent to Paris, bringing with him letters 
of introduction to the French encyclopedists—d’ Alem- 
bert and Diderot—which helped to bring him into 
touch with a brilliant and gifted circle of acquaint- 
ances. The young man enjoyed it without letting it 
injure his character, for the strong religious princi- 
ples which were the basis of his upbringing now 
showed forth in their full strength. Says his German 
biographer: “Equipped with this shield he was able 
to resist Diderot himself; yes, he even succeeded at 
a dinner in a téte-a-téte with this man, the most cor- 
rupt of all the encyclopedists, through his simple and 
direct answers to religious questions, especially those 
concerning his own beliefs, in persuading him to aban- 
don the thought of winning him over to the new ideas 
without its affecting their friendly intercourse to- 
gether.” 

Several years later Ludwig Heinrich moved to 
Vienna, where he became the private secretary of the 
Russian Ambassador, Count Rasumovsky, whom he 
later accompanied to Italy.. In 1769 he was admitted 
by Count Parien into the service of the Russian court. 
In this way the Alsatian moved into the great Empire 
of the East, where he settled and where, thanks to 
his great ability and his strong character, he succeeded 
in creating for himself and his family an honourable 


Ancestry 15 


and, considering the conditions of the time, an un- 
usually secure position. At the court he was at first 
tutor of Grand Duke Paul, then heir to the throne, 
and during the latter’s reign he became his private 
secretary. After the death of the Emperor Paul he 
remained the secretary to his widow, Empress Maria 
Feodorovna. In 1782 the honour of the name of 
Von Nicolay was conferred on Ludwig Heinrich by 
the Emperor Josef II of Austria. The title of Baron 
was conferred on him in Russia. He was also ap- 
pointed Privy Councillor and for some time held the 
position of President of the Academy of Science. 

As early as the year 1788 Ludwig Heinrich Nicolay 
had bought from the Duke of Wiirttemberg, governor 
of the province of Wiborg, the castle Monrepos, sit- 
uated in the parish of Wiborg in Finland, and for- 
merly known as Lill-Ladugard. He had acquired by 
purchase the possession of this crown property. Nev- 
ertheless, it was not until 1801 that Baron Nicolay 
secured the full right to possession of the estate 
through imperial rescript. Ludwig Heinrich, as well 
as many of his descendants, became greatly attached 
to the home at Monrepos, and in this way a bond— 
although at first merely of an outward nature—was 
gradually formed binding them to Finland. In beau- 
tifying Monrepos’ already beautiful parks through 
ingenious decorations bearing the impress of love and 
good taste, Ludwig Heinrich found an outlet for his 
intrinsic artistic inclinations. The first Baron Nico- 
lay was known as the author of several poems and 
fables in the spirit of the time, and he even sang to 
the praise of his beloved park in a poem entitled “Das 


16 Baron Paul Nicolay 


Landgut Monrepos.” On the beautiful little island 
of Ludwigstein which belongs to the estate, and 
which with its high rocky walls and cypress-like firs 
reminds the modern visitor very strongly of the 
artist Bocklin’s picture "The Isle of Death,” can also 
be found engraved in a marble column two lines writ- 
ten by the poetic ancestor: 


“Auf kurze Zeit ist dieser Higel mein, 
Auf lange Zeit bin ich dann sein.” 


Ludwigstein was set aside as a real “isle of death” 
for the members of the Nicolay family, and a more 
beautiful or more peaceful burial ground could hardly 
be found in any spot throughout the world. The 
scenery of Monrepos, beautified by a loving hand, 
and the poetic writings of the first Baron Nicolay 
bear witness to his cultural interests. The extensive 
collection of books, which for long formed one of 
the treasures of the estate and which can now be 
found in the University Library of Helsingfors, was 
made by him in conjunction with a friend of his 
youth, the Frenchman Lafermiére, who was at one 
time tutor of the Emperor Paul, as well as librarian 
and theatre director. The collection of books, called 
“Bibliotheque des deux amis,” fell, according to 
mutual agreement, after his friend’s death to the lot 
of Baron Nicolay. 

Ludwig Heinrich was lovable, friendly and depend- 
able. The last years of his life were spent in retire- 
ment in the country at Monrepos with his wife, 
Johanna Poggenpohl, the daughter of a German 


Ancestry 17 


banker. They had a very happy married life together 
and both died in the same year, 1820. Their only 
son, Paul, born in 1777, had at the age of eight been 
sent by his father to the famous author Joh. Heinr. 
Voss, rector at Eutin near Lubeck: Here he grew 
up with the learned man’s sons and imbibed in this 
atmosphere a love for the classics which was his 
throughout life. Later he studied at the University 
at Erlangen and did not return home until he was 
eighteen years of age. He then entered upon a diplo- 
matic career and traveled to London, where he served 
for several years under Count Vorontsov. After 
coming back to Russia he took part, among other 
things, in a commission whose purpose was to fix 
Finland’s boundary in the direction of Sweden and 
Norway. In 1811 he married Alexandrine Simplicie 
de Broglie, daughter of a French refugee, Prince de 
Broglie, who belonged to one branch of the famous 
ducal family of this name. 

The family de Broglie were known to be very pious 
Roman Catholics, and Princess Alexandrine brought 
with her as a gift to the family of which she now 
became a member something of this deep religious 
spirit. After her father’s death in Germany where 
the fugitives first went, her mother and her three: 
brothers sought with her a home in Russia. Alexan- 
drine received her education at the school in Smolna. 
Her brothers became pages at the court and later 
fought as officers of the guard against Napoleon. The 
eldest of them fell at Austerlitz and the youngest per- 
ished at Kulm in 1813, so that only one of the Princes 
de Broglie was able to return to the home country 


18 Baron Paul Nicolay 


with his mother after the restoration. Among the 
many monuments of special interest in the park at 
Monrepos which speak of a peaceful, dreamy restful- 
ness, is found the so-called Broglie monument, a 
stately obelisk of Swedish marble erected on an emi- 
nence to the memory.of the two young Frenchmen who 
had lost their lives. In the solitude of this quiet spot 
it speaks of the boisterous life of the great world 
where so much is going on, yet without disturbing the 
surrounding harmony which it rather seems to enhance. 
Thus, even though the family at Monrepos has re- 
ceived influences and impressions from many different 
directions, it has always succeeded in assimilating 
them, so that the family chronicles without being col- 
ourless yet lack, to an unusual degree, the rebellious, 
dramatic element which is so often found in the his- 
tory of a race of nobles. According to the wish of his 
father, Ludwig Heinrich, it was decided that the sons 
of Paul and Alexandrine Nicolay should belong to the 
Lutheran Church. The daughters, on the contrary, 
were to be brought up in their mother’s religion, so 
that no cause for disagreement between the parents : 
might arise. Paul Nicolay was very fond of his wife, 
_and his sorrow was great when in the year 1829 death 
tore her away from him and their seven little children. 
Prior to her death she had not had the strength to 
speak to her husband about the future, but she wrote 
many farewell letters exhorting him bravely to bear 
his grief and to bring up his children in the Christian 
faith. “Sois plus qu’un homme, sois un chrétien ré- 
signé.” ‘Thus ended her last letter to him, and these 
words were later placed by the widower over his de- 


Ancestry 19 


ceased wife’s portrait. The commission, which Paul 
Nicolay thus received from his “conjux amantissima, 
dulcissima, piissima, amica fidelissima,” as she is called 
in the Latin memorial on her grave, he carried out 
faithfully, and became a good father who implanted in 
his children the same dependability of character which 
was so marked in him. In order to give his daughters 
the advantages of a mother’s care and to fulfil his 
promise to his wife that they should grow up in a 
Roman Catholic atmosphere, he entrusted them for 
several years to the care of their grandmother in Nor- 
mandy. 

In 1822 Paul Nicolay became a Finnish Baron, and 
the family in the year 1828 was the thirtieth to enter 
the House of Nobles. Several years later he received 
the notification of the testamental statute whereby 
Monrepos estate became entail in nature to be handed 
down to his descendants. At the age of seventy he 
retired to his beloved estate where he lived until the 
year of his death, 1866, tenderly cared for by his un- 
married daughter Simplicie. After her father’s death 
Simplicie entered a convent in Normandy, which, 
however, never hindered her from thinking of her 
own people with deep affection. Her many letters 
as well as the joy she always showed when any of her 
relatives visited her bear witness to this. Simplicie 
was, however, not the only one of the family to leave 
the world for a convent life. Her brother Louis, the 
second in age, became in later life a Roman Catholic, 
thereby exposing himself to the disfavour of the Rus- 
sian Government. In 1868 he interrupted a brilliant 
military career—for at the age of forty-eight he had 


20 Baron Paul Nicolay 


been advanced to the position of Adjutant-general be- 
sides having taken part with distinction in many cam- 
paigns—in order to enter the famous Carthusian 
Monastery near Grenoble, “La Grande Chartreuse.” 
Here he studied theology, and was later ordained. 
But he also kept on intimate terms with his family, 
the younger members of which, among whom was his 
nephew Paul, often visited him during their foreign 
travels. 

The youngest of the brothers, Alexander, who 
studied at the ‘Imperial Lyceum” at Tsarskoje Selo 
and prepared for the position of a government official, 
remained in Russia and held through a succession of 
years several high positions. He became Chamber- 
lain, head of the civil administration of Tiflis in the 
Caucasus, and was later a member of the Council of 
Empire, and finally Minister of Education. He only 
held this latter position for a year because he dared 
to oppose the Russianisation policy of the then omnip- 
otent Procurator of the Holy Synod, Pobjedo- 
nostsev, and of the other ministers with reference 
to foreigners in the Empire. He remained after that 
a member of the Council of Empire until the year 
1889, when he resigned and retired to Tiflis, where 
resided his only daughter, who had married a Cauca- 
sian prince. He himself had married a princess, 
Tsjavtsjavadse by name, but had become a widower 
at an early age. He died in 1899 at his estate near 
Tiflis, leaving behind him the memory of a very re- 
served and exceptionally industrious and conscientious 
man. His punctuality, a trait of character which 
reappeared in his nephew, was said to be so great 


Ancestry VA 


that the inhabitants of Tiflis regulated their clocks 
when Baron Nicolay went across the market place on 
his way to his Civil Service Department. 

Nicholas, the eldest son of Paul and Alexandrine 
de Broglie, was born in 1818 in Copenhagen. He was 
educated at home by an excellent tutor until, at the 
age of 16, he became a student at the University of 
St. Petersburg. After completing his preparatory 
studies, he chose his father’s career and entered the 
service of the Russian Embassy in Berlin, where he 
continued to attend lectures at the University. Later, 
after visiting The Hague and London, he was offered 
a position at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in St. 
Petersburg, where he spent a couple of years. At this 
time he became acquainted with Sophie Meyendorff, 
the 18-year-old daughter of the Livonian Baron 
George Meyendorff and his wife, née Countess 
Stachelberg. He fell in love, as he himself expresses 
it, with the young girl’s charming simplicity—‘“sim- 
plicité charmante,’ by which he was delightfully 1m- 
pressed. During her childhood Sophie Meyendorff 
had received lasting religious impressions from an 
English governess who was an earnest believer, and 
these impressions had grown still deeper while prepar- 
ing for confirmation, in the quiet of the Livonian 
village. Nicholas Nicolay had also been brought up 
with a deep religious faith, so the marriage, entered 
into in 1853, became, despite the difference in age, a 
very happy one, founded as it was on common prin- 
ciples and life purposes. Baron Nicolay’s position 
soon brought him and his young wife abroad, first to 
Berlin, where their eldest little daughter died and 


ee Baron Paul Nicolay 


another was born, and then to London, Bern, and 
Copenhagen. At each of those places one of their 
children saw the light of day for the first time. 

In 1866 a great change took place in the formerly 
so happy life of the family, for in that year the father 
was attacked by a severe disease which necessitated 
his giving up his position in order to seek a cure in 
the warmer climate of Germany. Hope of his re- 
covery was, however, not realised, and after three 
years of great suffering he entered into the eternal rest. 

The young widow, still only thirty-four years of 
age, moved in the spring of 1870 with her children, 
Marie, Aline, Sophie, and Paul, to Monrepos, the 
ancestral estate of her husband. Here many years 
were spent in quiet seclusion. But later, solicitous for 
her children’s education, the mother moved to St. 
Petersburg where they could more easily receive the 
needed instruction and the friendly intercourse she 
desired. In this way the Russian capital became the 
place where the last male descendant of the family 
of Nicolay grew into manhood and found his life 
course and his appointed task. 


CHAPTER II 
Childhood and Youth 


pack NICOLAY was born in Bern July 14, 1860. 

He spent the first years of his life in Denmark 
and Germany, but later, as we have seen, his home 
was moved to St. Petersburg—the brilliant metropolis 
of the time, doubly brilliant to one who like him 
belonged to the circle of the wealthy and the highest 
social standing. It is hard to imagine an atmosphere 
less suited for deepening spiritual growth and for the 
normal development of a religious nature. St. Peters- 
burg before the Revolution always had countless in- 
tellectual and artistic pleasures to offer the prosperous 
portion of her inhabitants as lighter diversions, and 
the life of St. Petersburg with its mixture of the 
national and the cosmopolitan, of Russian unaffected- 
ness and foreign refinement, has held for many a 
special charm, an almost irresistible power of attrac- 
tion. But the nervous strain, which always character- 
ised this life, seldom permitted that quiet concentra- 
tion of mind which is alone favourable to the growth 
of the soul. Paul Nicolay was indeed fortunate to 
find in his home from the very beginning a wholesome 
antidote to the superficiality of the large city. Here, 
day by day, the boy was influenced by a spirit entirely 
opposed to the more or less brilliant immorality which 
he otherwise met in so many places. The centre and 


leading force of the home was the mother. 
23 


24 Baron Paul Nicolay 


Baroness Sophie Nicolay was in many respects a 
most exceptional personality. The hard trial inflicted 
on her by her husband’s serious illness and early death 
served to deepen within her the spiritual life already 
so rich in her youth. A genuine cordiality and sincere 
conscientiousness about even the smallest things dis- 
tinguished her character, giving a loving harmony to 
her whole life. Her great humility was combined in 
a unique way with an imposing dignity of bearing. 
The shyness, which never entirely left her—a charac- 
teristic inherited by her son—occasionally gave the 
appearance of coldness, but this impression soon dis- 
appeared before the sincere, simple spirit of kindliness 
with which she treated high and low alike, and which 
gradually won the hearts of all. She was the centre 
of her children’s affection. With a firm and loving 
hand, she knew how to develop in them an alert con- 
science and a vital faith in God. During her stay 
abroad, especially during the trying experience in Ger- 
many, she had come into close fellowship with be- 
lievers, and her religion had thus acquired a warmer 
and deeper hue than that which is typical of the usual 
Lutheranism. Even English influences could, as we 
know, be traced in her spiritual life, combining Ger- 
man depth of feeling with the active, characteristically 
practical nature of Anglo-Saxon religion. 

Her devotion to God penetrated all the daily duties 
of life in the Nicolay home. Not only was the family 
gathered together daily in morning worship, but the 
mother sought to accustom her children at an early 
age to set aside at least fifteen minutes each day for in- 
dividual Bible study and prayer. 


Childhood and Youth 25 


The following words written by Paul Nicolay at 
the age of ten in a letter to his mother show how 
successful she had been in making this a very precious 
custom to her little son: “Auntie takes prayers for 
us in the morning, but I think it is easier to do it by 
myself. I will try to be good, but you must pray 
God to help me.” 

Without wishing to draw hasty conclusions from 
an isolated letter, it can be said that these words are 
very significant in showing how early Paul Nicolay 
came into a personal relationship with God. Typical 
of him in another respect is something he writes of 
in a letter a year later. He is telling how to his great 
joy he has just discovered his favourite pet of the 
summer, his precious turtle, which had disappeared 
and had now been found by the sons of the manager 
of the estate near the bath house at Monrepos. He 
writes: “How wonderful! I had just been praying 
to God this morning, ‘If it is Thy will please let me 
find my turtle.’”’ To the contemplative child so in- 
clined to introspection this little incident became a 
personal experience of faith, and the religious disci- 
pline of his prayer life is already plainly marked in 
the phrase “if it is Thy will.” The religious na- 
ture of his mother’s training helped greatly in 
strengthening in him that sense of loyalty to duty 
and that inclination to self-criticism which were in- 
herent in the boy. One of his tutors, his arithmetic 
teacher, once said of his pupil, who was then thirteen, 
that he could not rid himself of an idea until he had 
fully understood it. Paul Nicolay, writing about this 
later, says: “This seems to me to be the right and 


26 Baron Paul Nicolay 


the only good side of my character.” The whole 
character of the boy develops wonderfully in the help- 
ful atmosphere of the home. But his childhood days 
are not entirely free from clouds. Physically he is 
far from strong, he has a nervous temperament, and 
the moral battle, which he never took lightly, must 
even now have caused him a great deal of anxiety. 
The chief faults of his childhood were a hot temper 
and a rather capricious irritability, tendencies which 
he says he had to fight throughout his whole life. 
Even now he has declared war on them. His mother 
and his eldest sister, Marie, stood by him faithfully 
in this battle, and he therefore feels toward them a 
very deep and unaffected love. ‘Tell Marie that I read 
my Bible every evening,’ he writes in March of the 
year 1876 in a letter to his mother, who with her 
daughters was then visiting Rome. “It is marvellous 
how God has helped me in school so far. You can 
not imagine how much I miss you all! Home seems 
empty, for there is no one there whom I love and who 
loves me as you do. Good-bye, my darling Mother, 
there is no danger of my forgetting you. I think of 
you and long for you very often.” 

The school, which the young boy mentions here, 
was the “Gymnasium” of the ‘“Historical-Philological 
Faculty” of St. Petersburg, an institution for training 
teachers, something like an American normal school. 
In September 1873 Paul entered this school, from 
which he was graduated seven years later. Prior to this 
he had received private instruction in various subjects. 
There is not much to be said about his school life. His 


Childhood and Youth Sa 


first impressions of school were such as might be 
expected of a boy who had lived rather an isolated 
life in the shelter of his home and who was suddenly 
transplanted into a circle of lively and boisterous boy 
companions. The first favourable judgment of the 
school concerns this spirit of fun, and not the instruc- 
tion. “School is great fun. We played a great many 
boyish tricks, laughed, pushed each other, and made 
the desks walk,” he writes in a letter. These pranks, 
which were certainly not foreign to young Nicolay’s 
nature, were soon however subordinated to the strong 
sense of duty which characterised him, and he later 
studied hard and distinguished himself by his excel- 
lent work at school. But this did not, however, give 
him any particular joy in his work—he was too 
nervous for that to be possible and maybe also too 
sensitively conscientious, and the system of examina- 
tions then prevalent in Russia must have been a ter- 
rible ordeal for him. Significant are the words of 
the letter quoted above: “It is marvellous how God 
has helped me in school so far.” Now, as later, Paul 
Nicolay takes every task seriously, is always striving 
for the best possible results which he often attains, 
but usually at the expense of his health, and the work 
rests upon his young shoulders as a great burden. 
But for the most part neither the teaching nor the 
companionships made any deep impression on his 
personal development. This may have been due to 
his keen and strongly individualistic makeup, or per- 
haps the atmosphere of his cosmopolitan and aristo- 
cratic home afforded, in spite of all its simplicity, too 


28 Baron Paul Nicolay 


few points of contact with the motley group of a 
Russian school. At any rate, he must have felt himself 
a stranger among his teachers and companions. 

Of far greater significance to the youth than his 
school life could ever be was the training for con- 
firmation, which he-and his youngest sister received 
from the pastor of the German church in the winter 
of 1879. This was hardly due to the nature of the 
teaching itself, but rather to the claims which, in view 
of the approaching religious decision, became per- 
sonal and vital to the young candidate for confirma- 
tion. Paul Nicolay strives throughout this period 
with the wholehearted intensity of an honest nature 
to concentrate on the necessity of really coming one 
step nearer that God who had been a reality to him 
from childhood, but in relation to whom he still finds 
he has left so much undone and unsolved. But he 
finds it difficult to reach the necessary degree of con- 
centration, hard to lose himself in prayer, while at 
the same time he must prepare for the exacting exam- 
inations which have to be passed before he can be 
promoted to the highest class of the Gymnasium. 
Learning the catechism, as well as all the required 
memorisation, seems very irksome and increases the 
burden of his work. The notes in the diary which 
he now began to keep have therefore at times quite 
a gloomy hue. He reproaches himself bitterly for 
mistakes he has made, and is also tormented, when 
the Fifth Commandment is under discussion in the 
Communicants’ class, by the thought of how often 
he has neglected his beloved mother. The indifference 
which often overpowered him as a result of physical 


Childhood and Youth 29 


or mental strain seemed to him to be a sin. Never- 
theless, he succeeded in fighting his way to a calmer 
outlook on life. The day before his confirmation 
he writes: “I believe that the essential thing is to 
recognise oneself to be a poor sinner, and with joy 
and thankfulness to receive the forgiveness of Jesus, 
and that from Him Himself.” Both brother and 
sister were confirmed in the Church of St. Anne in 
Petersburg. “Our hearts failed us,” the young boy 
writes of the great event. “I had to fight Satan who 
was trying to make me indifferent, but, thanks to God, 
my prayer helped me to feel free. What grace I felt 
in this first partaking of the Sacrament! I hope I 
shall never forget it! What a joy, what a privilege, 
to feel Jesus within oneself! One feels completely 
changed. What goodness and mercy of God that He 
should give Himself to a poor sinner like me. I must 
busy myself more with God’s word, so that He may 
busy Himself more with me. I must, with God’s help, 
change for the better lest I should change for the 
worse.” These expressions of joy and gratitude, so 
natural to a youth brought up in a Christian atmos- 
phere at the time of confirmation and the impressive 
moments of his first communion, were of far greater 
significance than usual to young Nicolay. “Jesus 
within himself” became for him not only the source 
of joy and peace for his whole life, but also an abso- 
lutely binding call to a life of holiness, and a pledge 
of coming victory—a promise which he had to remind 
himself of again and again when the battle he waged 
would otherwise have seemed hopelessly hard. For 
the inner life of Paul Nicolay in all its simple devo- 


30 Baron Paul Nicolay 


tion was never an easy one. He set his goal far too 
high for that and took into too little account the out- 
side circumstances, which others are so apt to employ 
as excuses for spiritual laziness. There was no 
definite “decision for Christ” at the time of confirma- 
tion in the life of Baron Nicolay, but this event was 
just one step nearer that decision, which became 
finally complete and unreserved after many similar 
steps through the same battle. 

The last year at school, 1879-1880, proved to be 
especially taxing to the young man’s physical strength. 
Neuralgic headaches, constant insomnia which fol- 
lowed, attacks of malaria and influenza—all these, 
which were the great trial of his maturer years—he 
suffered from even during school life, making espe- 
cially hard for him the intensive study for examina- 
tions which formerly marked the end of each term 
in a Russian school as a time to be dreaded. With his 
resolute sense of duty, Nicolay now buried himself in 
his work, but his conscience often smote him when 
he realised that he could not free himself from that 
ambition, that desire to distinguish himself which 
plays a part in every competition. Like a sigh of 
relief sound, therefore, the words of his diary, dated 
June 15, 1880: “Finis! I can hardly believe it, it is 
like a dream. God be praised for having helped me 
through these seven years of school.” 

It must have seemed like freedom from an unendur- 
able restraint immediately afterwards to travel abroad 
with his mother and sister to France, Switzerland and 
Italy. In France they visited his father’s sister, the 
Abbess Simplicie, in the Convent of Normandy, and 


Childhood and Youth 31 


also his father’s brother Louis at “La Grande Char- 
treuse,” whom Paul Nicolay never neglected to visit 
in his many subsequent travels in Western Europe. 
In Italy the family stayed at Lake Maggiore, at 
Verona, and finally at Venice. Here Paul Nicolay 
left his family in order to return to St. Petersburg 
where he was to enter the University. That winter 
he lived with his uncle and guardian, then Minister 
of Education, Alexander Nicolay. This stern govern- 
ment official, who considered it every man’s duty to 
serve his country, that is, the State, urged his nephew 
to study law. As Paul’s mother, who had unlimited 
confidence in the judgment of her brother-in-law, 
supported him in this, the young man felt obliged to 
comply with his guardian’s wish. 

His own interests would have led him in quite a 
different direction—he loved history, and also geog- 
raphy, astronomy, physics, and other natural and 
mechanical sciences, in which he later acquired con- 
siderable proficiency by his own efforts. Practical 
activity, and most especially the healthy life at sea, 
also appealed to him. But jurisprudence with its 
great demand for dry memory work was, on the con- 
trary, repulsive to him. The first years at the Uni- 
versity were therefore almost as hard for him as the 
last year at the Gymnasium. His health was not im- 
proved by his visit abroad, and he felt weaker than 
ever before. He never used his bad health as an 
excuse for neglect of study, but he often excused 
himself because of it from fulfilling the demands 
which society began to make on the young baron and 
Jandowner. During these years he was reserved and 


ay! Baron Paul Nicolay 


shy, and his physical depression brought on a mental 
despondency, a tendency always to look on the gloomy 
side, which often seemed to overcome the natural 
joyousness and good spirits of which, according to 
the opinion of his young companions, he had a rich 
supply. In order to strengthen and discipline his 
rebellious body he began at this time to take lessons 
in fencing, which exercise was as beneficial to him 
as the season spent at the health resort in Bavaria in 
the summer of 1881. During the summer-time he 
spent a great many hours out-of-doors, devoting him- 
self most enthusiastically to sailing, of which he had 
been fond from his childhood. In 1883 he purchased 
the yacht “Lady,’’ which became a faithful friend to 
him through many a long year. With the pilot Pajuri 
and one other man as crew, he undertook from Mon- 
repos, where he usually spent the summer, trips to 
Kotka, Pellinge, Helsingfors, and other places in Fin- 
land. In this way he familiarised himself further 
with the country which was to become still dearer to 
him, and which, in spite of his Russian upbringing 
and international connections, he always liked to recog- 
nise as his fatherland. 

The sailing trips were beneficial to Paul Nicolay 
both physically and morally. He rejoiced in the manli- 
ness instilled in him through the necessity of extri- 
cating himself from critical situations, as opposed to 
the apathetic influences of the life at St. Petersburg. 
His love for this healthy sport became almost a real 
passion with him. One of Baron Nicolay’s com- 
panions of this time says that his desire to acquire 
true sailor customs would lead him to quite comical 





MONREPOS 





PAUL NICOLAY AT 
THE AGE OF THREE 





Childhood and Youth 33 


exaggerations. He attempted among other things to 
chew tobacco, and when at night he would turn out 
the friends who were accompanying him they were 
forced before going up on deck to swallow a glass 
of rum, for that was part of the game. The fare on 
board the “Lady” was of the simplest, coarse bread 
and dried reindeer steak, so that the guests with more 
delicate appetites joyfully hailed the first white bread 
which was offered them on coming ashore. 

The out-of-door life at sea certainly helped 
strengthen Baron Nicolay for the winter’s hard battle 
with jurisprudence. June 7, 1884, he passed his law 
examination with honours, which like former similar 
triumphs seemed a marvel to him. “What others 
attribute to their good luck, I know that I have to 
thank God for,” he writes in his diary. And it was 
with reliance on this strength that he now attacked 
his studies for the final examination for his degree. 

During this phase of his life Paul Nicolay, in spite 
of the shyness which had, however, somewhat dimin- 
ished, as his strength increased, was often drawn into 
those circles of society where amusements reign. This 
picture of him as a companion and man of the world 
which was given by a friend of his youth portrays 
the young Paul Nicolay in the middle of the eighties, 
and the circles in which he moved. 

“It was a moment rich in significance for me,” 
writes Baron Theodor Brunn, “when one evening at 
the home of the governor-general, Count F. Heyden, 
who was living in St. Petersburg at the time, I became 
acquainted with Paul Nicolay, who was later to be- 
come an intimate, well loved, and admired friend. It 


34 Baron Paul Nicolay 


seems as if it were but yesterday. Miss Olga von 
Heyden, who became later Lady-in-waiting to the 
Dowager Empress, came towards me accompanied 
by a pale thin young man, saying, ‘Baron Nicolay, who 
is also from Finland, wishes to meet you.’ I cannot 
remember what he said at the time, but it was of 
Finland he spoke, and I had a feeling of gratitude 
to him for wishing to become acquainted with me. 
We were both a great deal in society at the time. 
Paul Nicolay was a good friend and comrade at the 
University of St. Petersburg, of Alexander Heyden, 
who later became Flag Officer and Adjutant to the 
Emperor Nicholas II, but was more intimate with 
his classmate Dmitri, the youngest of the brothers, 
who joined the artillery and on retiring became Mar- 
shal of the Nobility in Southern Russia. The young 
people used to gather at the home of the Heydens 
once a week and played charades. Dmitri Heyden 
entertained everybody with his jokes. Paul Nicolay 
was in high spirits, and even if he did not help to 
amuse the company on a large scale he was well versed 
in innocent pranks. I remember so well how, happy 
and boyish, when seated on a Turkish divan in the 
smoking room beside Dmitri Heyden he said, ‘We don’t 
have to say much in order to enjoy ourselves.’ And 
then, experienced as he was in fencing and sailing, he 
would hit his neighbour a sharp blow on the knee. 
The latter would try to retaliate, but Paul Nicolay 
was agile and strong, and with a laugh he was in the 
other corner of the room. His joy was contagious, 
for it was so pure and hearty. Alexander Maxim- 
ovsky, Boris Jakeentschikoff, and Theodor Oom were 


Childhood and Youth 35 


among the young men of this group at the Heydens’. 
It was with Oom that Nicolay sailed to Summa and 
fetched me on board his yacht ‘Lady.’ They were 
on their way to visit the Heydens who had rented 
the artistic home of General von Etter’s wife in Haiko 
for the summer. And it was on this cruise that I 
received my first impression of Paul Nicolay’s very 
helpful influence on his companions. . . . Both mem- 
bers of the crew, P. & K., were pleasant, devout people 
who attended prayers, where Nicolay would play for 
them English hymns on his little organ. But Oom 
and I were complete heathens. I had lost my faith 
as a student at Dorpat, and Oom was a cynic and 
belonged to that class of young people who regarded 
the creed of the Greek Orthodox Church merely as 
essential to a position in the world and at court. One 
warm summer evening we were all three reclining 
in the cabin while ‘Lady’ rocked on the quiet sea as 
on a lake of oil. Oom came out with a shady story 
or vulgar expression. I seconded him in such lan- 
guage; but, barely had we spoken ere Paul Nicolay 
urged us in a friendly but decided way to give up 
such conversation. He was a conscientious and 
earnest young man in whom we caught a glimpse of 
the servant of God which was to be.... Yes, he 
could sail, fence, play games, and act, but not as we 
others did. There was something about the expres- 
sion of his face which told of a försruntd fight for 
the spiritual world.” 

Paul Nicolay could do everything that those around 
him did, and yet in doing it he was not like them— 
this must be the explanation of the deep influence felt 


36 Baron Paul Nicolay 


even then by his companions. “This young Daniel 
in a worldly society,” as Baron Brunn calls him, never 
lost sight of the high ideals of Christian manhood. 
“How I wished that even in the deepest recesses of 
my soul I might be straightforward, sincere, an enemy 
of all deceit, industrious, energetic, steadfast but 
humble—that I might fight and conquer self and with- 
out fear of men always let my conscience be the 
victor!’ This we find in his diary of 1882. Even 
after this he often upbraids himself for idleness, for 
it seems to his sorrow that he is wasting time. The 
purity he is striving for is far greater than freedom 
from merely gross sins. Once when in a moment of 
weariness he sought diversion in a book which he found 
to be coarse, he is convinced that reading it was a sin. 
“What little strength of character I have, that I do 
not throw away a dirty book in time!’ When dur- 
ing the autumn of 1884 in the course of a long jour- 
ney he visits Paris, he can be seen again fighting against 
a variety of impressions in order to keep his inner life 
strong and free from stain. Now, as before, he seeks 
help in all these battles from the God of his youth, 
to whom he always bears the relationship of a trust- 
ing child. Especially in his sailing trips he accustomed 
himself to look to God for protection and guidance 
even in the smallest things, a faith which became a 
comforting, steadying certainty throughout his life. 
He was often, as we have seen, depressed by his own 
inability and worthlessness. These scruples must 
have been confided to his Uncle Louis when he visited 
La Grande Chartreuse in 1884, for he writes in his 
diary how his uncle urged him to trust in God’s com- 


Childhood and Youth SÅ 


passionate and searching love for all his need. The 
relation between the Carthusian uncle and his nephew, 
a man of the world, was one of the deepest under- 
standing; and when Paul Nicolay remarks how the 
conversation turned to the necessity of doing every- 
thing for God and not for the praise of men and how 
they rebuked the cowardice and weakness of the day, 
we understand that the views of the ascetic monk 
and the fighting young Daniel must have harmonised 
in a marvellous way. But Paul Nicolay writes of a 
cousin de Broglie, also a monk, whom he visited and 
who grew "less friendly” when he found his Lutheran 
relative evading the question of conversion to Ca- 
tholicism. The Roman Catholic doctrines had never 
appealed to Alexandrine de Broglie’s grandson. The 
worship of saints irritated him who was always 
acutely sensible of man’s nothingness in the sight of 
God, and once after attending mass he simply jots 
down laconically, "Glad to have it over.”  ZEsthetic 
impressions had no attraction for him, but he could 
appreciate to the full the spiritual greatness of certain 
Catholics, and the lure of asceticism which one could 
not fail to notice in his own life must have made him 
sympathise with certain features of Catholic discipline. 

Although the young Paul Nicolay was a pro- 
nounced Protestant in his views of life, he could never 
be termed an Orthodox Lutheran. Lutheran church 
life of the time was hardly calculated to appeal to a 
mind as strongly attracted by the essential and prac- 
tical in religion and indifferent to its historical forms 
and dogmatic interpretations as was Paul Nicolay’s. 
“Feclesiasticism” seemed to him even then, as he later 


38 Baron Paul Nicolay 


expressed it, to be “just as much a party-spirit as any 
other conceivable form of party-spirit.” Even in 
maturer years he spoke of himself as a “poor denomi- 
nationalist.” Neither did he receive his deepest reli- 
gious awakenings, except at the time of confirmation, 
through the church, but rather at home. Baroness 
Nicolay was devoted to the church of which she was 
a member, but, as we have seen, her religion worked 
along other lines than those customary to that church. 
We have seen how, even from childhood, Paul N icolay 
accustomed himself to independent striving towards 
a personal relationship with God, and when as a man 
he received a deep and lasting influence from a Chris- 
tian community, it was not from his native church, but 
from a society almost unique in its nature and not 
even recognised as a religious body by the temporal 
and spiritual authorities of the Czar’s Russia. For 
Paul Nicolay received in the society of the Pasch- 
kovites the most powerful impulse to his faith and 
his first training as a worker in the service of Christ. 
The Paschkovite movement can be regarded as one 
of the most remarkable religious occurrences in Russia. 
It takes its place among the many sects of that country 
which were built on an evangelical basis. The Rus- 
sian sects are almost entirely unknown to us. Because 
the spirit which is, or was, prevalent among so many 
of them greatly affected Baron Nicolay’s spiritual 
development in the time of his youth, it might be of 
interest in a work of this nature to describe them in 
a few words. But, as this would lead too far afield, 
we must needs confine ourselves to Paschkovism 


Childhood and Youth 39 


which in many ways resembles the purely popular 
sects, although of a totally different origin. 

The Paschkovite movement originated in aristo- 
cratic circles in St. Petersburg. In 1874 Lord Rad- 
stock, a leading English evangelist who had spoken 
in many countries in Europe, came to Russia’s capital 
at the request of a Russian lady of high rank who 
had heard him speak abroad. Here he held “drawing- 
room meetings’ in many an aristocratic home. Of 
Lord Radstock Paul Nicolay wrote at his death many 
years later: “His life was one of wholehearted devo- 
tion to his God, and his message was a melody of but 
a few tones.” This man, through his simple talks on 
the fundamentals of evangelical Christianity, made a 
deep impression on many members of the Russian 
nobility. One of those who heard him and were 
gripped by his message was the Colonel of the Guard, 
Vasilij Alexandrovitsch Paschkov. In 1876 he filed 
a request for permission to found a society to encour- 
age the reading of religious and moral literature, and 
his request was granted. The aim of the society was, 
according to its statutes, to afford people the oppor- 
tunity of obtaining at a low price parts of the sacred 
Scriptures as well as other literature. As a result 
about 200 pamphlets were published and circulated 
through the country districts by those appointed for 
that purpose. Paschkov and those of the same faith 
——whose only dogma was belief in salvation through 
the atoning death of Jesus Christ and that this salva- 
tion was open to all—gathered in each other’s homes 
for religious meetings. In these gatherings the 


40 Baron Paul Nicolay 


numerous servants of the most aristocratic household 
and men and women of humble rank were encouraged 
to take part. These meetings were most often held 
in the magnificent Paschkovite palace at Nevan, or 
in the home of the sisters, Princesses Gagarina and 
Lieven, at Bolschaja Morskaja. Here one could meet 
not only pastors but also Colonel Pashkov himself, 
Lord Chamberlain Count Korff, and many other mem- 
bers of the new society; and here in the most luxuri- 
ously furnished drawing rooms, seated on high antique 
chairs of gilt and figured leather, were washerwomen 
and farm hands side by side with countesses and 
princesses of the bluest blood, often sharing even the 
same hymn book—a sight hitherto unknown in Russia. 

Tolstoy in his novel “Resurrection” has painted a 
satirical picture of this little group. It is easy to 
understand how he who had never looked behind the 
scenes saw in it merely a parody of what he called 
Christian brotherhood—the outcome of a fashionable 
whim or a rising tide of emotion among a few rich 
and self-satisfied people. What the great author 
failed to see was the deep, rich peace which “the glad 
tidings” brought to the hearts of poor and rich 
alike, and which kindled in most of the members of 
the Paschkovite society a burning desire for service 
and gave them steadfast courage in the face of abuse 
and persecution. It was but natural that the work 
of the Paschkovites was very soon to arouse unrest 
in the camp of the Orthodox Church. The Church 
publications showered on the heads of these new sec- 
tarians abusive words, and demanded their overthrow. 
At these meetings no mention was made of saints, of 





PAUL NICOLAY AND HIS THREE SISTERS, 1870 





Childhood and Youth 41 


the Virgin Mary, or of the Sacraments of the Church, 
and no icons were found in the meeting places. Was 
not this sufficient reason for branding the entire move- 
ment as immoral and unchristian? 

In 1877 an order was issued to Paschkov prohibit- 
ing religious meetings, and in the following year the 
religious authorities were told to urge him and his 
followers to abandon the error of their ways and 
return to the fold of the Orthodox Church. As a 
result Paschkov moved his field of activity to the 
country places where he could work unnoticed, and 
especially to his many large estates. In this way the 
Paschkovite propaganda reached the more distant 
peoples and came into contact with earlier existing 
evangelical sects. When Paschkov returned to Peters- 
burg in 1884, he and Count M. Korff called together 
a joint meeting of representatives of these sects— 
Stundists, Baptists, Molokans, and others. This 
meeting was soon forbidden and many of the dele- 
gates, mostly peasants from various parts of the coun- 
try, were arrested, examined, and sent home by the 
administration. In the same year the society for 
encouragement of the reading of religious literature 
was dissolved by governmental ukase. Immediately 
afterwards the Holy Synod directed the bishops to 
watch the spread of the Paschkovite movement, and 
a similar order was given the governors by the Home 
Secretary. Colonel Paschkov was forced to leave the 
country and make his home abroad, but the movement 
continued to spread in the late eighties and through 
the nineties. During this period it became more and 
more assimilated with the other existing sects, and 


42 Baron Paul Nicolay 


grew in many respects more radical and more aggres- 
sive against the Church. 

But in the highest circles in the capital Paschkovism 
retained its original character. For here meetings 
were quietly carried on, occasionally exposed to 
annoyances from the police but more often, thanks 
to the protection of the Court, left unmolested. It 
was here also that Paul Nicolay, in the eighties, first 
came into touch with the movement. Count Konstan- 
tin von der Pahlen, his friend, later to become his 
brother-in-law, introduced him into the society of the 
Paschkovites, where his mother also was known, for 
although she never joined the movement—always 
remaining a faithful member of the German congrega- 
tion in Petersburg—she embraced, nevertheless, the 
spiritual sphere of its activities with warmth and sym- 
pathy and had many intimate friends among its mem- 
bers. Paul Nicolay, a student and young functionary, 
thus came to attend these religious meetings first at 
the home of Paschkov, whom he did not come to 
know until several years later, and afterwards at the 
home of Princess Lieven whose son became a good 
friend of his. Here he found divine worship simpler 
and more direct than in the Church, and a much 
greater demand for personal work on the part of the 
individual members of the group. ‘The latter had 
at first an almost terrifying effect on him whose re- 
served nature shrank from united prayer, and the oft 
heard sentimentality in the preaching of German and 
English evangelists frequently repelled him. But 
there were other aspects of these meetings which must 
have strongly appealed to him. There was a spirit 


Childhood and Youth 43 


of earnestness which permeated these people who 
were striving to serve God in the midst of a godless 
and superficial world, and it was not rare to meet here 
those who had borne witness to their faith before 
princes and rulers and suffered for it in prison or exile. 
Something of the deep, pure fire of the early Chris. 
tians must have been rekindled here. And again and 
again the speeches emphasised complete surrender to 
the only God as the condition of fitness for use in 
the service of His Kingdom. It was now made still 
clearer to the young Nicolay that his Lord might 
demand a more complete and unlimited possession of 
him, that an irreproachable life could not be the sole 
aim of a Christian, for there was work for every one 
who was willing to be used. Gradually this thought 
ripened within him among this group of Christians, so 
sure of their faith. “How much spiritual blessing have 
I not found in the meetings in the home of Princess 
Lieven,” he said to one of his Finnish friends many 
years later. It was here that the young man often 
found the needed help for the fight to be able to live in 
the world without being “of the world.” This battle 
was still far from over in the last years of study, and 
it was not so to be until he should have found a way 
out from this “world” into a richer, fuller, and more 
fruitful life. 


CHAPTER III 
Years of Consecration 


O* returning from his trip abroad in the autumn of 

1884, Paul Nicolay writes: ‘“A new phase of life, 
a new manner of living is now opening up for me. 
I will begin it with God, and pray Him to be with 
me and bless me.” The new life of which he is think- 
ing is primarily the completion of his studies at the 
University and the prospective entering upon his legal 
career as a government official. In the winter of 
’84-’85 he worked on the thesis for his final examina- 
tion in law, after the acceptance of which he was 
appointed in the spring of ’85 to the first department 
of the Senate. Some years later he left this civil 
service department for the Council of Empire. 

But the new work did not interest Baron Nicolay, 
and the change from the University life made no great 
difference to his habits of living. During these years 
his time is divided between the duties of his position, 
which he tries to fulfil with his customary minute 
conscientiousness, and that life of pleasure which his 
standing in society almost required of him. He at- 
tends the theatre—which he, not being <esthetically 
inclined, does not greatly appreciate—although in his 
diary he sometimes expresses enthusiasm over “Faust” 
and even mentions the pleasure aroused in him by a 
“decent performance” of “Beautiful Helena,” or the 


thrill with which he watched Coquelin’s play, But 
44 


Years of Consecration 45 


his usual remark was, "I don’t understand much about 
it.’ Sometimes he dances until five o’clock in the 
morning at the home of friends, and he thoroughly 
enjoys a party at the home of Grand Duke Vladimir. 
And occasionally he is also known to have remarked 
after some entertainment: “I have had a good time” 
(beaucoup amusé). But in spite of all this he finds 
time to bury himself in questions concerning a life 
of faith, many of which become vital to him. His 
diary thus pictures him pondering over the subject 
of “Justification by Faith” and over the meaning of 
the finished work of Jesus Christ. "Can it be true 
that this work is sufficient for us?” he asks himself 
in 1884. “What a joy, if it were true!” And in 1885 
he writes that he is now convinced of the certainty 
of Justification, but does not yet understand on what 
it is based. Of far greater significance than these 
theoretical meditations is a strong conviction of duty 
to begin to work for God, and a growing sense of the 
danger of the worldliness which is trying to make 
increasing demands on him. 

This worldliness had, in reality, very little hold 
upon his inner life. “Beaucoup amusé” was seldom 
the comment called forth by one of these so-called 
pleasurable evenings. On returning from a fancy 
dress ball he writes: “Never again in my life will I 
take part in anything like this.” Neither is the tempta- 
tion to ambition and adventure, so common to those 
of his social standing, of any real danger to him. 
When during a visit to Helsingfors in 1886 he attends 
a ball given by Count Heyden for Alexander III, he 
rejoices to think that he has already retired before the 


46 Baron Paul Nicolay 


Emperor, late in the evening, inquired about Baron 
Nicolay. He even considers it a burden during the 
visit of a Grand Duke at Monrepos, that same year, 
when he is obliged to offer his arm to the Grand 
Duchess Maria Pavlovna, and when on the occasion 
of a ball a couple of years later he “twice in one round 
held the hand of the Empress,” he remarks ironically 
that he can now “die in peace.” Yet, at the same 
time, he feels that this “worldliness is robbing him 
of the spirit of Christ,” and the big decision for 
him during subsequent years becomes: How much of 
this kind of life is entirely wrong, how much am I 
entitled to relinquish, for God’s sake, not for my 
own comfort? It is this necessity of taking his stand 
against the demands of the world, of submitting more 
fully to the guidance of God’s Spirit, which is the 
new element now entering into Paul Nicolay’s life, 
and which, as his diary shows, characterises most 
markedly the period from 1884-1891. 

Significant of the seriousness with which he at- 
tempts to change his habits and remodel his character, 
is the decision reached in January, 1885, to give up 
the habit of smoking which had become dear to him. 
“In order to strengthen my character, with God’s help 
I reached the heroic decision to give up smoking, and 
have this evening locked away my tobacco and my 
beloved pipes,” is the somewhat humorous remark 
in his diary. But existence without tobacco while 
working on his thesis, during the following days, 
proved to be real torture; he felt a continuous pres- 
sure on his chest, was nervous, and out of sorts. It 
often seemed like pure folly not to put an end to this 


Years of Consecration 47 


discomfort by smoking one little cigarette—a remedy 
certain of success! But when he was about to do 
this, he recalled “with indignation” that this to him 
was a forbidden fruit. Later Baron Nicolay often 
rejoiced over the victory won at that time, for with 
the years grew his conviction that smoking was a 
real hindrance to true holiness; “God’s Spirit would 
not approve of it,” he often said. 

On New Year’s Day of the year 1886 Paul Nicolay 
made two resolutions for the coming year: “not to 
please yourself,” and “never to procrastinate.” This 
year he delivered his first official address in the Senate, 
and, as in the time of his examinations, he marvelled 
at the success which so far exceeded his expectations. 
In spite of the unusually poor condition of his health 
—hbeing forced to undergo a water cure at Kissingen 
—he still strove by every means to realise both his 
resolutions, and to fight the indolence and inclination 
to idleness with which he, though unjustly, accused 
himself of being greatly afflicted. Towards the close 
of the year he joined the society for the relief of the 
poor of the German Church and visited in this 
capacity the poor and the sick. He witnessed dreadful 
scenes of suffering, but reproached himself for being 
so little affected by them. "Is it tiredness or the 
presence of another which causes it?” The absence 
of strong emotions which he was often forced to 
observe in himself caused him deep concern. It was 
probably on account of this that in later years he so 
often emphasised in his addresses that the inner life 
of a Christian should not be founded on emotions, 
but on the determination of the will and on the Word 


48 Baron Paul Nicolay 


of God. In his diary of 1887 is reflected the joy with 
which he received the words of the evangelist Kargel 
at the home of Princess Lieven: “A Christian’s duty 
is to give himself, not to worry about himself.” He 
is also gripped by another picture with which Kargel 
illustrates his thought: the strong hand of God takes 
hold of man’s weak one, all we have to do is to let 
Him take hold. Baron Nicolay often used this illus- 
tration in religious addresses. At a student conference 
at Jakobstad it brought release to a student standing 
on the borderline of decision, an incident which was 
tenderly recalled even after Nicolay’s death by those 
who were then present. We may thus realise that the 
impressions made on Baron Nicolay in these early 
years were deep and decisive, and destined in many a 
case to determine the conception of Christianity of his 
riper years. 

In 1887 Paul Nicolay joined the Russian Bible 
Society. He also participated in the work of the 
German Church this year by taking up the collection, 
along with other young men, at the services in the 
Church of St. Peter. This must have been to the shy 
and, as we know, unecclesiastically minded young 
man a great self-denial. | 

It was at a meeting at the home of Princess Lieven 
in January of 1888 that Nicolay for the first time 
appeared as a religious speaker. It was not with 
eagerness that he did it, but he did it nevertheless, 
driven by a categorical imperative which he himself 
describes in the following words: "I was struck by 
the thought that if God gives me something to say 
I shall be forced to speak, now that the need for 





PAUL NICOLAY, 1883 





THE FAMILY COAT OF ARMS 


~ 





Years of Consecration 49 


speakers is as urgent as it is to-day; that I must learn 
to get something out of God’s Word myself, and not 
remain a passive pupil merely listening to pastors and 
others. But it is not for the head to delve out the 
meanings, but the soul through God, through prayer, 
as He commands.” He already felt a responsibility 
for the people who have not like him tasted of “the 
Bread of Life,” but are suffering from spiritual 
starvation, and his one urge was to transpose his 
faith into action and not to keep the best he possessed 
for himself alone. A Christian who was not willing 
to share the wealth of his soul with others he later 
stamped as an “egotist,” an “anomaly.” Thus his 
first appearance at the home of Princess Lieven was 
not to be the last in that year; the need for speakers 
was often apparent and Paul Nicolay was always 
ready on such occasions to fill the breach. 

At the end of January of the same year occurred 
an epoch-making event in Baron Nicolay’s life. At 
that time he journeyed to Helsingfors to take for 
the first time his seat in Parliament in the House of 
Nobles as the head of his family. The young Baron’s 
interest in Finland had been considerably augmented 
during the past few years. When on one occasion, 
upon receiving a foreign pass, he was called “a Fin- 
lander in Russian service,” it pleased him immensely. 
He had begun to study Swedish, and he once gave as 
an explanation for not taking part in the work of the 
German Sunday School that he hoped in time to teach 
Swedish and Finnish children. This interest was 
greatly increased while in Helsingfors during the 
session of Parliament. He now became acquainted 


50 Baron Paul Nicolay 


with many of Finland’s outstanding men, was enter- 
tained with great hospitality in Finnish homes, and 
also made many true friends. He became acquainted 
with Madame af Forselles and her husband Emil af 
Forselles, also the wife of Colonel Karamsin and 
many members of the family Wrede, among whom 
were Professor R. A. Wrede and Miss Mathilda 
Wrede, and, during the summer, also her elder sister. 
On a visit to Toivola Home for freed prisoners near 
the River Kymmene he also met Baron Henrik Wrede, 
the owner and head of the home, who became one 
of his best and most devoted friends. In company 
with Miss Mathilda Wrede he visited Sörnäs prison 
which he found astonishingly well organised. His 
attitude toward Finland was especially characterised 
by an affectionate admiration so often found at that 
time among “Finlanders in Russian service,’ which 
was brought forth on occasional visits to his native 
land by comparisons between its regulated western 
ways and the chaotic condition of the great Russian 
Empire. | 

Many of these new acquaintances became of great 
significance to the inner development of Paul Nicolay. 
He takes part in meetings at the home of the wife of 
Colonel Karamsin, and with two young men whom 
he has just learned to know attends free church meet- 
ings in the Alliance House in Helsingfors. The atti- 
tude to “the world” which was then prevalent among 
Finnish believers aroused a certain spirit of restless- 
ness in the extremely conscientious young man. We 
have seen how he still felt it possible to combine 
religious activity with a worldly life of pleasure, how 


Years of Consecration 51 


he did not consider it right, without great deliberation 
and inner certainty, to break entirely with the latter. 
Here he comes up against an entirely different point 
of view. Madame af Forselles has described an 
occurrence in which this difference became apparent. 
One evening the young Baron Nicolay arrived rather 
late for a Bible class at the Karamsin home, and with- 
out hesitation excused himself on the grounds of 
having to be present at a circus given on Broholmen 
by society men and women. At the close of the meet- 
ing the young man with the quiet countenance and 
questioning look accompanied Madame af Forselles 
home, and asked her after a period of silence what 
she had meant by the expression “almost a Christian” 
which she had used during the course of the evening. 
Immediately, almost without a moment’s reflection, 
came the answer, “Oh, for example, one who goes 
straight from a circus to a Bible Class.” “The ques- 
tioning look of the dark eyes became still more 
marked,’ writes Madame af Forselles. “I could 
plainly discern it even in the dusky glow of the street 
lights, while an almost imperceptible smile spread over 
the serious features. I have never been able to forget 
this expression; it appealed to me so strongly with 
its complete absence of any trace of wounded pride 
or resentment. What I saw in it was the deep thirst 
for truth of a crystal clear character.” 

Thirst for truth—a sure, personally discovered truth 
—can really be traced in the notes in Paul Nicolay’s 
diary of this time. He quotes in it Madame af For- 
selles’ thought that he who has truly given himself 
to the Lord should no longer love any pleasures, not 


52 Baron Paul Nicolay 


even music and similar ones, unless they glorify God. 
“T could not say Amen to this. Should one live be- 
yond one’s understanding (au déla de sa comprehen- 
sion) ?” he asks himself. He prays for clearness in 
the decision, and some thoughts then come to him: 
(1) Spiritual growth begins at the moment of our 
consecration to the Lord; (2) There are different 
degrees of growth; (3) One should not strive to 
grow faster than is natural; (4) Jesus alone should 
be our goal and guide in the spiritual realm, while 
the opinions of other children of God are of far less 
(trés secondaire) importance. The words in Romans 
14:4, “Who art thou that judgest another man’s 
servant? To his own Master he standeth or falleth; 
yea, he shall be holden up, for God is able to make 
him stand,’ now became real to him, and they re- 
mained precious to him throughout his life. In the 
presence of his Lord he tries every truth, weighs every 
step. When anything begins to seem wrong to his 
conscience he does not hesitate to brand it as such, but 
not before. We have already seen how he gave up 
his beloved pipe and cigarettes. Typical also is his 
attitude towards the use of strong drink. In his visit 
to Finland he twice found himself at a party imbibing 
more than he felt was good for him, and as a result 
pauses for the first time in front of the temperance 
question. “Is it right for a Christian to drink more 
beer than he needs for quenching his thirst?” After 
a dinner at the hunting club at Nyland where he finds 
he has not been sufficiently temperate, he begins to 
consider the adoption of the blue ribbon as the only 
cure for avoiding anything as humiliating in the 


Years of Consecration 53 


future. From an absolutely personal reason and in 
the same independent way he gives up hunting as a 
sport. He once happened to shoot a wild duck that 
was offering her life to save her young, and the ques- 
tion presents itself to the young hunter, how far he 
“who would have the mind of Christ” can risk com- 
mitting such an atrocity. Paul Nicolay’s reasons at 
this time are entirely personal, he never formulates 
any universal principle but considers each individual 
case; and this method was to remain characteristic 
of him. 

The strongly independent way in which Paul 
Nicolay considered everything made difficult his posi- 
tion towards much of what his free church friends, 
with the best of intentions, tried to force him to do. 
"What is it people on all sides are reiterating to me— 
that I shall testify and not hide my light under a 
bushel?” he writes with apparent reluctance. Every 
utterance of untested emotions, every burst of ecstasy, 
worked unsympathetically on him. He longs for com- 
plete surrender to God, but feels that he can never 
reach his goal by publicly “giving himself,” as he was 
urged to do, in the Alliance House. This might so 
easily prove to be but the work of men. The aggres- 
sive propaganda methods of others—distributing 
tracts on trains and steamers, and religious talks with 
strangers—strongly repel him. But, with his usual 
conscientiousness, he asks himself whether it is just 
his weakness and laziness that make him want to 
shirk. The independent trait in his character 1s coun- 
terbalanced to a certain degree by what has been 
called “the inclination of an honest nature to choose 


54 Baron Paul Nicolay 


the hardest simply because it is hard”! When he 
travels, later in the summer, with a friend to the Cau- 
casus to visit his old uncle he is harassed all the way 
by self-reproach for not making any attempt to bring 
spiritual help to his fellow passengers. It seemed 
impossible for him to.seek out an opportunity, and he 
can only with difficulty induce himself to distribute a 
few tracts when this seemed natural. But this journey 
which Nicolay in deep remorse pictures in such dark 
colours came to be of decisive significance to his travel- 
ling companion. On one occasion, at a table d’hote on 
the steamer, when the latter heard his reticent friend 
resolutely interrupt a doubtful discourse with the cate- 
gorical assertion: “This is a sin,” it made a deep im- 
pression on him and hastened his conversion. Both 
the friends find themselves on the journey avoiding 
their fellow travellers, who belonged to a class of people 
foreign to them. The consciousness of this causes a 
burning uneasiness in Baron Nicolay. “Have I the 
holy fire?” Similar doubts were long to trouble him. 
But his conviction that God has called him to His serv- 
ice grows during this year which was so significant in 
his life. 

He is strengthened in this conviction by intercourse 
with Christian friends in St. Petersburg. One of these 
friends now mentioned for the first time in his diary, is 
a Miss Alexandra Peucker, a talented and warm- 
hearted woman, who gave all her wealth as all her time 
to work for her Master. Baron Nicolay speaks of her 
in his diary as “this admirable and fascinating child of 
God,” and he never had reason to change his opinion 
of her. Miss Peucker, who is still living in Russia 


Years of Consecration 55 


where she had to undergo terrible suffering during the 
Bolshevik régime, is spoken of by all who know her 
as a soul on fire, a person in whom intensity of feeling, 
clearness of thought, and great strength of will are 
blended in harmonious union. In her relations with 
Baron Nicolay, as with many of his comrades, is cor- 
roborated the fact that in isolated cases woman is per- 
mitted to play the part of shepherd of the soul of man. 
The young men often gathered in her home for long 
and deep discussion of subjects which were on their 
hearts, and together to delve into the words of the 
Bible. In December Baron Nicolay met Colonel 
Paschkov for the first time, and was impressed by him 
as "a sympathetic man, true, humble and lovable.” No 
greater influence dared Paschkov, soon to be banished 
from Russia, exert over him. 

The complete surrender to God for which Paul 
Nicolay was striving in these years of consecration, 
can be considered at the close of the year 1888 to have 
become an accomplished fact. There was no conver- 
sion in the true sense of the word in his life, adjusted 
as it was from the first to the Christian way of living. 
But when he, who several months earlier had marvelled 
over the ability to give up some worldly pleasures, 
writes in October: “What grace to have been able to 
break from the world,” and when, in spite of all his 
antipathies, we find him a volunteer teacher in the 
German Sunday School, we know that the motto of 
1886, “Do not please yourself,” has become a reality 
in Paul Nicolay’s life. He has now handed over the 
rudder of his boat to a stronger hand than his own, 
and has placed himself under a higher command. As 


56 Baron Paul Nicolay 


he later liked to express it, all that was now left for him 
to do was to fight; the responsibility of the victory was 
not his. 

He realises full well that Christianity means self- 
denial. In 1889 he once quotes the English words: 
“As long as you keep yourself to yourself you can do 
nothing for anybody,” and adds: “This has penetrated 
into my soul. All these last days I have felt as if my 
soul were ill and dried up. This evening I asked my- 
self whether I did not still keep just one idol, and I an- 
swered no. Then it occurred to me that I had kept one 
idol—my own convenience [mes aises]|—and I de- 
termined to give that up immediately. Put the hand of 
your will on the stone to be rolled away and expect God 
to do it. That is why this evening I said to God: ‘I 
have offered up my own convenience as far as I know 
how, with my will; and I have left the rest to God. 
I am willing, make me able. If only God would add 
new flights to my life! ” In the same year he writes: 
“T now pray God every day for the following things 
which I believe I shall receive: (1) To grow in Him 
as the branch grows in the vine, and without looking 
back or in any way breaking loose to grow still more 
in strength; (2) To adopt the spirit of service for His 
sake and overcome my terrible fear and reluctance of 
speaking to others—thus to become a useful servant; 
(3) That my character may be changed so that I shall 
not waste my time, but rather gain time; no slackness.” 

Breaking away from the “world,” from the mundane 
life of pleasure, must, as we understand Baron Nico- 
lay’s whole nature, rather have been a relief to him. 
He was glad of the certainty of not being obliged to 


Years of Consecration 57 


submit to the tyranny of society, though at times this 
changed attitude might lead to conflicts with his en- 
vironment. In February of 1889 he received an invi- 
tation to a court ball to which he had asked his influ- 
ential uncle, a year before, to obtain him admission. 
His mother and his eldest sister considered it his duty 
to accept the invitation, for to decline would be an insult 
to his uncle who had gone to such trouble to secure it, 
and lack of respect to Their Majesties. On the tenth 
of February Paul Nicolay writes concerning it: “It is 
hard not to see clearly, and to be influenced by my own 
people. It is only for religious reasons that I have de- 
cided to give up the dance. The unpleasantness of 
being bored and feeling embarrassed I no longer think 
about, but I feel that God has led me in a definite di- 
rection and caused me to abstain from worldliness. To 
accept the invitation would be to go in the opposite di- 
rection, and that might draw me on further.” He 
therefore declines the invitation, realising that he 
thereby exposes himself to Their Majesties’ displeasure 
and the risk of harming his career as an official. Two 
years later he finds himself again in a similar position. 
During a visit to Monrepos, he learned that Czar Alex- 
ander and the Czarina were to go ashore at Wiborg 
on a journey to Langinkoski. “It was immediately 
clear that Mamma should meet them at the pavilion of 
the place of landing, but I could not see plainly what 
I should do. Personally, I would have enjoyed getting 
a closer view of them and being presented to them, but 
I did not know what God’s will would be since He did 
not let me attend the court ball. When I prayed to 
God for guidance I was no longer uneasy. Sunday 


58 Baron Paul Nicolay 


morning I opened my Bible at random to the third 
chapter of Daniel, and as I read I learned that Daniel’s 
three friends were not permitted to do all that others 
did. Might that have any bearing on my presentation? 
But what? Nothing. I go to my room and opening 
my New Testament my eyes are attracted to II Cor. 
6:14. ‘Allons donc,’ I think. Am I prejudiced? At 
all events I beseech God to make His will clear and 
force me to act in accordance with it even though it 
may be contrary to my own. I ask Him to let His will 
be done. This evening I will go to the Governor to 
hear Count Heyden’s opinion about it.” Count Heyden 
explained that it would be embarrassing to evade his 
duty as a subject, and it was therefore decided that 
Baron Nicolay should be presented to Their Majesties 
along with senators and other men of rank. But that 
evening he was struck by the words in I Cor. 7: 17, “As 
the Lord hath called every one, so let him walk. . . .” 
And these words of the New Testament seemed 
strangely significant. All three verses seemed to point 
to the same thought, that God “in a very personal way” 
could advise a person who was consecrated to Him to 
keep away from a worldly act, even when this in itself 
implied no direct wrong. In the time which remained 
before the day of presentation he could not at first see 
clearly what to do, but he felt very keenly that God 
really wanted to speak to him through the words of 
the Bible, and he was seized “with a great fear of being 
disobedient.” When on another evening he again 
prayed for guidance, he found as an answer the verse 
in Acts 16:7, “The Spirit suffered them not.. .” 
“Then I became calm. After having prayed so much 


Years of Consecration 59 


and received such answers, I am convinced that it is 
God’s will, and a restful peace possesses me.” 

This question which puzzled Baron Nicolay so 
greatly may have seemed to many unworthy of such 
serious deliberation, but Paul Nicolay took his whole 
life seriously, and to one who had grown up in a noble, 
conservative, and loyal family in close touch with the 
atmosphere of the court the whole question must have 
appeared quite differently than to us. The characteris- 
tics which Paul Nicolay’s arithmetic teacher once 
ascribed to him and which he himself then spoke of 
as his only good quality—the inability to leave a prob- 
lem unsolved or merely half solved—again makes its 
appearance. His problems were, for the most part, 
ethical in nature, and throughout his entire life there 
loomed up before him a series of important and difficult 
tasks, all of which with God’s help had to be solved. 

During the years following his consecration, “in a 
very personal way” Paul Nicolay is guided into that 
fellowship with God which he had chosen to be his 
part. In 1889 he was taken very ill, and the thought 
of death with all its seriousness forced itself upon him. 
In spite of the pain he suffered he felt that God was 
very good who would thus prepare him. “Fear not, 
but believe.” As the fever diminished, life seemed like 
something new, as a gift, and he prayed that his con- 
secration might be more complete and that all he did 
in the future “might be tested by the spirit of death.” 
He now began to take part in the evangelistic meetings 
for Germans conducted in St. Petersburg by the Chris- 
tian bookseller Grote, and assisted him with the after- 
meetings for those who wished to come into personal 


60 Baron Paul Nicolay 


fellowship with believers. In his own home also he ar- 
ranged similar meetings. On July 14, 1890, he jour- 
neyed to England to attend a "meeting for the deepen- 
ing of the spiritual life” which was held annually at 
Keswick. On this trip he also visited the church of the 
famous evangelist Spurgeon and became acquainted 
with Lord Radstock and his son, and many other out- 
standing Christians. Even before the start of the con- 
ference did Nicolay feel that he was facing a big and 
decisive event and jotted down in his diary the signifi- 
cant words: “I am consecrating myself,’ and on an- 
other occasion: “I am renewing my covenant with Jesus 
Christ.” He was honestly striving to free his faith 
from all emotionalism, "for so should faith be.” “All 
the time I believe in Christ with my will,” he writes in 
his characteristic way. ‘The atmosphere of spirituality 
and peace of the Keswick conference impressed him 
deeply. It became more evident than ever to him that 
his peace rested entirely on God and His will and did not 
depend on his own feelings. The certainty of the grant- 
ing of one’s petition is not necessary when one prays, 
but only the assurance that God hears—is a thought 
that brings comfort to his struggling soul. With his 
whole heart he desires God to equip him for His 
service, and he prays for "a new standard of prayer, 
a new standard of faith.” 


CHAPTER IV 
First Seeds Sown 


JANE it became clear to Paul Nicolay that he could 

and must give up everything which merely served 
his own pleasure, he began to consider whether he 
ought not to sell his idol, the yacht “Lady.” He even 
advertised it for sale, but as no prospective purchaser 
appeared he abandoned for the time all plans for dis- 
posing of it. But Baron Henrik Wrede made a sug- 
gestion to which Nicolay after some hesitation agreed. 
Why might not “Lady” be used in the service of the 
Lord, as a Mission boat? For there are among the 
rocks and islands girding the coast many districts 
where it was seldom, if ever, that a sermon could be 
heard, and where it was almost impossible for the in- 
habitants to procure a Bible or any other good book. 
Baron Wrede offered to accompany his friend on his 
first trip, and in the beginning of August, 1890, they 
set forth. 

The two friends went from Toivola, where Baron 
Nicolay had been visiting, to Kotka where “Lady” 
lay at anchor in the harbour. From Kotka their course 
led to Suur-Musta, where they spent a day distributing 
tracts to friendly folk of the island coast. Baron 
Wrede spoke to the people and read to them a Finnish 
sermon, which his friend at this time was unable to 
do on account of his deficient knowledge of the Finnish 

61 


62 Baron Paul Nicolay 


language. On the following morning they continued 
their journey under a strong gale to Majasaari and 
Nuokka and from there to Aspö. Half way across a 
great thunder storm arose from the direction of Aspo, 
frightening Baron Wrede, who was a poor sailor and 
was already beginning to feel the effects of seasickness, 
He therefore begged his friend to turn back as soon 
as possible and put him ashore at Fredrikshamn. Baron 
Nicolay did this and returned to Monrepos, grateful 
for having seen how this new work should be carried 
on. 

But there still remained one great obstacle in the 
way of this work, the language. If Baron Nicolay 
was to travel alone this obstacle became almost insur- 
mountable, for as yet he had but an imperfect mastery 
of Swedish and knew very little Finnish. With re- 
newed energy he immediately began to take lessons in 
Finnish so as to learn enough to enable him at least to 
sell books. He was greatly encouraged when a mem- 
ber of the Russian Bible Society offered him four thou- 
sand Finnish tracts, and seemed to see in this a sign of 
God's approval of his project. On July 14, 1891, he 
considered himself ready to undertake his second mis- 
sionary journey. He went first to Swedish speaking 
districts where he could more easily come into touch 
with the people, landing first at Orrengrund where he 
met with a friendly reception from the pilots, and from 
there visiting Boistö, Reimarslandet, Kampuslandet, 
and Kungshamn. Baron Nicolay often left the shaping 
of his course to wind and weather, believing that 
Christ, who was Lord even over them, through them 
would give him the needed guidance. He had not yet 


First Seeds Sown 63 


formed any definite plan for the work itself, and he 
was often undecided as to how to attack it. How his 
work took shape can best be seen from detailed descrip- 
tions he himself left as a record of the first missionary 
cruises. In their simple reality they bring to us a true 
picture of the Baron tract-distributor on board his 
yacht and in the often difficult and thankless work 
ashore. Some excerpts from his English diary which 
he kept during his first journey may therefore prove to 
be of great interest." 

“A boat from Kungshamn comes with milk and be 
ries as a present for yesterday’s tracts! Weighed 
anchor. Saw a lot of men a little further at work, 
drawing timber out of the water. Anchored again, 
and went amongst them giving tracts and speaking as 
well as I could. With one man had a nice, close, 
pointed conversation. They bought several New Tes- 
taments in Swedish and Finnish and were very nice. 
Then, after hesitating where to go, dared to go up 
an unknown way through Parlaksfjard. Stopped and 
visited V. D-berg village. Men out hay making and 
women at home without money. In one house saw a 
poor sick young tailor’s wife, gave tracts and a New 
Testament. Why couldn’t I pray with the sick woman 
and make her well? In many places they beg me to 
wait, while they cook coffee for me; but no time. .. . 
Would to God I knew better how to speak to 
the people, more to the point, and that I should be 
in such communion with Him as to hear His voice 
every time I speak. . . . Fine morning, light south- 
east wind, heavy air. Rowed ashore with Pajuri 


1 Quoted from English Diary. 


64 Baron Paul Nicolay 


and went to the village. About sixteen houses. 
Mostly women, Spoke Finnish. Some seemed 
touched, gladly accepted tracts, but didn’t buy a 
single book. They all of them have a New Testa- 
ment and most of them Bibles, too. While the men 
are away the women may not spend any money. 
Prayed before entering a house. Spoke mostly about 
God's peace. ‘They that have not Christ's spirit are 
not His.—Rom. 8. Christ's spirit, spirit of peace,— 
have you got it? Always the same evasive answer: 
‘We ought to have it.” Sailed to Kaunissaari. Went 
to the pilot house, met there three men. One seemed 
almost ironical, another listened. They had no Bible 
nor New Testament, and didn’t want them; had them 
at home. Everywhere these confounded sermon books, 
asking after Psalm books, song books, sermon books. 
Went across the island about 3 km.—hot weather, 
heavy bag. Met one nice man making hay. He asked 
me into his house and gave me coffee. God bless him. 
Most people out, sold but one Bible, people not very 
- encouraging; may the tracts do their errand. Near a 
boat five or six people were gathered. When I began 
they met me with a smile, but got very serious at the 
words, ‘peace with God,’ and so I could deliver a mes- 
sage. Returned on board and sailed. Thunder clouds 
to windward, got their wind from the south and came 
in beautifully to Kotka. . .. On board you always 
must look sharp, it possesses you, and I lose the living 
communion with God. Yet God consoled me in His 
own loving way. This morning I opened my Swedish 
Bible to Isaiah 44, and my eyes fell on the words under- 
lined: ‘Du ar min tjanare, du varder ej av mig for- 


First Seeds Sown 65 


gaten.’* That was for me like a message direct from 
the King. God has acknowledged me as His servant 
and reminds me Himself that He is not forgetting me. 
How precious I treasure this message and thank my 
Lord and Master for it.” 

We can well understand how this inexperienced mis- 
sionary felt the need of encouragement and help in this 
his first really hard task. He is conscious of how ex- 
ceedingly little he can accomplish through his distribu- 
tion of tracts and the words he may speak. But he feels, 
nevertheless, that duty calls him to continue on the way 
which God has directed. When he comes up against 
obstacles, either of an outer or inner nature, he often 
wonders whether it may not be a sign of his having in 
some way displeased his Lord and forfeited His con- 
fidence, by carelessness, indifference, or disobedience. 
This thought troubles him, “as in former years,” and 
shyness and self-criticism once more make their voices 
heard calling him away from the hard task. But at 
such times he finds comfort in the conviction that God 
loves him in spite of everything, and throws himself 
with renewed energy into his work. About a town 
whose inhabitants still seemed “discouraging, lifeless 
and indifferent,” he writes the significant phrase: 
“Well, the seed is at least sown.” This thought gives 
him courage. 

He described in his diary the way in which his con- 
versation with the people often shaped itself. The 
only regret is that since this was written in English 
the answers of these island folk lose some of their 
original freshness. The details are very character- 


1“Thou art my servant ... thou shalt not be forgotten of me.” 


66 Baron Paul Nicolay 


istic of Baron Nicolay’s way of going to work at 
this time. A typical conversation follows: * “ “The Lord 
Jesus Christ bless this house.’ Sometimes, ‘Thank 
you,’ sometimes—no answer. ‘Good morning. I’ve 
brought you Bibles and Testaments, have you got 
any?’ ‘Yes, we have a Bible, several Testaments and 
lots of books.’ "That's very nice—and have you also 
got peace with God?’ ‘One ought to have.’ ‘Have 
you prayer and sermon books?’ ‘No, only the Word 
of God.’ ‘Remember we won't live long, the Lord 
Jesus will very soon return or else He may soon call 
us away. We must be ready to meet Him.’ ‘Yes, 
our life is very short on earth.’ ‘Well, he who has 
peace with God has everything, and he who has not has 
nothing, although he may be a very learned man. God 
will give you this peace, if you will only accept Him. 
Read John 1: 11-12. Have you accepted Him? He 
loves you and wants to save you.’ ” 

They were very simple words which Paul Nicolay, 
with his limited knowledge of the language and his 
lack of practice in speaking to peasants, could bring to 
these isolated people. But they often bore fruit. Many 
years later he spoke with good-natured irony of his 

early attempts as a country evangelist; but what may 
“seem to be a failure does not always prove to be one. 
Full often the inhabitants of these islands or rocky 
coasts wondered at the frail gentleman with the bulky 
bag of books, at his abrupt questions and the foreign 
accent of his speech, but even that wonder paused be- 
fore what he had to say. The honest convincing tone, 


1 Quoted from the English Diary kept by Baron Nicolay at 
this time. 


First Seeds Sown 67 


the “earnest questioning look,” already familiar to the 
reader, also possibly the knowledge itself that ex- 
pressing words of admonition was not easy to him who 
said them—all this made his unaffected, unskilful ser- 
mon truly worth while. What self-denial all this “ag- 
gressiveness” must have cost him with his naturally re- 
tiring disposition! He often writes during his mission- 
ary trips that he has not the least desire to speak. But 
characteristic of him is the striking reply he once jotted 
down after such a confession: ‘It doesn’t matter.” 
After inviting the people to remain for a talk on the 
Bible which he was to give that evening, he remarks 
that it seemed like “an invitation to his own funeral.” 

The work among these rugged peoples to which he 
devoted himself through so many years became, at 
least, of educational value to the man who was to be- 
come “a fisher of men” and an extensive organiser. 
Above all, this work broadened the range of his ex- 
perience. On these trips he met people of the most 
varying types—Hihulites behind whose severe legalism 
he succeeds in detecting a breath of life, self-sufficient 
followers of Hedberg who seek him out merely for 
discussion, Russian fishermen who expound to him 
their theory that Jesus’ work of salvation availed only 
for those already dead at the time of Christ, and not 
for those now living, who must secure their salvation 
through their own works. He gradually learns to 
adapt his teaching to the individual circumstances of 
his audience. “Spiritual hunger,” he finds, “must first 
be aroused before it can be satisfied.” He fixes his at- 
tention on the individuals who make up the mass, and 
begins to find the right words when as shepherd of 


68 Baron Paul Nicolay 


souls he has to deal with personal sorrow and anguish. 
Thus a troubled mother is comforted by the story of 
Augustine, the son of tears. Men with soul hunger 
seek him out on his journeys, and he is often sum- 
moned to beds of illness. 

Through all this grows his faith in the grace of God 
which alone can enable him to be of spiritual service 
to his fellowmen. “To look up to God, that alone gives 
strength,” he writes in 1893. “We could do nought 
but let Him work.” In the midst of toil and hardships 
he finds time for a personal communion with God, a 
communion whose depth and beauty far surpass the 
usual measure. The life at sea often fills him, the lover 
of the sea, with a deep, pure joy. He loves the times 
when the sea is sky blue and the rocky island coast is 
beautiful—“the Mediterranean and Capri,” he once 
wrote on arriving at Hogland—but also rejoices in 
“angry green waves capped with white,” in a fresh 
breeze and a good sail. But in all this he sees above 
all his God. He seeks to learn and follow His will 

whenever he plans any undertaking at sea. “Pajuri is 
often nervous about our marvellous manceuvres,” he 
once remarked. He always asks his Lord to take 
charge of everything and exclaims on seeing his pray- 
ers answered: “How good of God!” His ability to 
trace the hand of God in the smallest things—charac- 
teristic of him through life—was greatly augmented by 
these cruises. It is a child-like, impulsive, happy thank- 
fulness which, in 1895, after an experience of faith, 
exclaims: “There is no such thing as chance for God’s 
child, but such a coincidence is a little gift, a little 
token of the divine goodness.” Still nearer his God is 


First Seeds Sown 69 


he brought in the hour of danger, and several times on 
his journeys does he have a narrow escape from death. 
But closest to his Maker does he come when at times 
he would go to Him alone, not in prayer nor in songs 
of praise, but with great yearnings and devotion. 
Around such moments the simple words of his diary 
create an atmosphere of holy silence that we dare not 
break. 

The nature of Baron Nicolay's work was virtually 
changed in the year 1893. He was no longer content 
to distribute books and work through private conversa- 
tions and occasional Bible talks, but took with him on 
board his yacht one or more evangelists, mostly Finnish 
speaking, with whose help he was able to arrange for 
larger meetings on the various little islands. Among 
these preachers were Mäkinen, Soikkeli, Saarinen, and 
Skutnabb. Even these helpers did Baron Nicolay 
receive, as it were, straight from the hand of God. He 
prayed, before starting on a cruise, that only those 
men who were driven by an inner impulse to take part 
in the work should present themselves, and he was con- 
vinced that his prayer was heard. As a rule he was 
pleased with his companions and delighted with their 
simple, straightforward teaching. In the following 
years sailing trips were taken to other parts of Wi- 
borg’s island coast (Björkö, Pusaari, Pitkäpaasi) as 
well as to many places already visited. Many a time 
was their course steered to Hogland and islands to the 
south and east of this island, such as Tytterskär and 
Lavansaari. The meetings were usually of an entirely 
improvised nature, for there was no time for extensive 
preparation. 


70 Baron Paul Nicolay 


Baron Karl August Wrede has described the method 
of procedure on one of Nicolay’s missionary trips in 
which he took part, to an island outside of Fredriks- 
hamn. The news was quickly spread that a meeting was 
to be held at a stated hour for adults, and one a little 
later for children. Baron Wrede inquired whether he 
was expected to speak at the meetings. “Yes, if you 
have something you would like to say,” responded 
Baron Nicolay. “How is the program arranged, in 
what order will things occur?” his guest continued to 
ask. “That is of no consequence. God will show us 
that.” This method of arranging a meeting seemed 
somewhat strange to Baron Wrede, who was, however, 
soon convinced both that the meetings would be well 
attended, and the evangelists have ample opportunity 
for personal talks with many on “the one thing need- 
ful.” Baron Nicolay did not feel excused by the as- 
sistance of the evangelists from any obligation of 
speaking himself. It was here that he became accus- 
tomed to giving religious talks in Swedish, and he even 
occasionally spoke in Finnish when that seemed neces- 
sary. But he did not gain any greater confidence in 
his own ability: "How useless I am as an evangelist, 
how hard it is for me to be aggressive,” he wrote even 
as late as 1896 from Hogland. Yet he never left an 
opportunity unused. In many places he laboured with 
the Salvation Army, with which he had already be- 
come acquainted in the work at Wiborg. At first he 
was displeased with some of their methods, but he did 
not feel justified on those grounds in turning away 
from an organization whose work he had to recognise 
as self-sacrificing and fruitful. "One should never be 


First Seeds Sown 71 


too decided in one’s first antipathies,” he wrote, after 
expressing his aversion to public witness bearing, 
One form of work, which he started during his first 
missionary year and which he had to perform entirely 
alone, was the selling of Russian New Testaments and 
devotional books on the warships stationed near Trang- 
sund. He usually had no difficulty in obtaining per- 
mission to go on board these ships, and it was very 
seldom that his request met with a decisive "ne nado” 
(not wanted). The sailors were gathered together on 
the deck, gazing inquisitively at the books which were 
being exhibited. On some ships they were very eager 
to buy; one sailor, for instance, turned to another with 
deep disapproval and said: "What kind of a sailor are 
you not to own a New Testament!” But it also hap- 
pened that they would laugh and regard the books and 
the vendor merely as a curiosity. The attitude of the 
officers depended entirely on whether they knew who 
the quiet and unpretentious salesman was. After be- 
ing treated with aloofness on one ship where he was 
forced to exhibit his wares on the floor of the deck, 
he might on the next be invited to the officers’ quarters 
and received asa baron. “I feel like a Cinderella,” he 
writes after such an experience. It was a temptation 
to him, when visiting the ships of the Navy, to reveal 
at once who he was and in the company of the officers 
to make his appearance as a man of the world and not 
as a missionary. “It makes you feel as if in another 
world. You have the desire to be there in the pleasant 
role of a visitor, and not on the pathway of God.” He 
had so many interests in common with these officers, 
old acquaintances in St. Petersburg, politics, and above 


72 Baron Paul Nicolay 


all, yachting and the Navy, his passion. But to con- 
verse on these things when he had come on board on the 
commission of God seemed to him like wasting time 
and avoiding possible discomfort and annoyance. His 
honest nature also revolted against any appearance of 
disloyalty to the cause he served. This along with the 
wholly foreign atmosphere of the Russian warships 
made this form of work very difficult for him, but he 
felt called to it and did not give it up as long as his 
mission along the island coast lasted. 

Thus the idea of converting his “idol’’ into an in- 
strument in the service of the highest things of life 
was brought into fulfilment. The summer months 
were no longer a time of rest for Baron Nicolay, ex- 
cept when with reluctance he was compelled to go 
abroad because of his state of health. These months on 
the contrary became times of intense strain and fa- 
tigue. He could feel so tired that “his body would 
hardly hold together,” but the work filled him with a 
rich joy. “The end of a cruise is often more blessed 
than its beginning,” he writes on one occasion. His 
joy reaches its height when at times he is permitted to 
see that his work is needed in many places, and that it 
is even bearing fruit. He mentions a “meeting which 
was blessed” at Kaunissaari where no pastor nor lay- 
man had preached for three years, and at Tytterskar 
he meets a person who found peace with God after his 
visit of the previous year. He loves his yacht with a 
new and hallowed feeling, and must still occasionally 
ask himself if his delight in yachting itself may not 
play too great a part in his life. But those are but 
passing sentiments, and in 1897 he writes: “I am sure 


First Seeds Sown 73 


that there will be a picture of my yacht in heaven, for 
thus has God known how to utilise my idol.” Yet the 
thought of selling the yacht, of giving up this mission 
to the island coast, comes to him more repeatedly at 
the close of the 1890's, and in 1901 the thought is 
realised. The reason for this must be found in the 
many new duties which were now making a claim on 
him, so that he does not consider it right to spend large 
sums of money on a boat which he would now so sel- 
dom be able to use in the service of his Master. 


Baron Nicolay's Christian work in the nineties was 
not limited to his missionary cruises along the coast in 
the summertime. During the autumn and winter months 
in St. Petersburg he sought to utilise every oppor- 
tunity of coming into touch with spiritually hungry 
men, of winning souls for Christ. He distributed 
Gospels in hospitals and spoke to the patients; and he 
was always eager to enter into conversation with cab 
drivers who frequently drove him through the city, 
seeking to interest them in the cause of the salvation 
of souls—often succeeding, as this thought was not 
foreign to the ordinary Russian—and giving them 
tracts and copies of the New Testament. The “‘isvos- 
tschiks” were certainly grateful to be treated as if 
they were of value as people, and not merely as a means 
of conveyance, in the eyes of a gentleman. Baron 
Nicolay mentions with joy in his diary how a coach- 
man, whom he had once talked to, recognised him sev- 
eral years later and told him of his conversion. 

In the year 1897 Baron Nicolay began regularly to 
gather around him a group of young men, probably 


74 Baron Paul Nicolay 


members of the German Y. M. C. A., with whom he 
studied the Bible and whom he tried to interest in 
home missions. In these years he addressed various 
societies, such as the German and Finnish Temperance 
Societies in St. Petersburg, and often spoke at the home 
of Princess Lieven. Speaking he found just as diffi- 
cult as during his journeys along the rocky island coast, 
but the inner compulsion to share with others the 
treasures of the Christian life mastered him. His atti- 
tude at that time made speaking especially difficult, for 
he believed that the subject for an address should 
never be chosen “by the mind” but “by the means of 
prayer,” through the working of God's spirit. Conse- 
quently, he often found himself on the platform not 
knowing on what subject to speak. But he always 
found guidance, although this might not be until the 
eleventh hour. For unprepared in the true sense of 
the word he never was when he came to a meet- 
ing; while searching for a theme he had delved into 
many texts, and one thought had usually matured and 
been clarified, although at the time he was not certain 
_ if this were the right one for his address. In the ad- 
dress itself he often suffered from an inability to free 
himself from thinking about people, and could not speak 
as if in the presence of God. He sought for the cause 
of this weakness in his “spiritual undernourishment,” 
and decided, with the words of the Psalmist, “Seek my 
face,” daily to set aside half an hour more than for- 
merly for private meditation and prayer. 

In the meantime a larger and infinitely harder piece 
of work was beginning in 1896 to make the first de- 
mand on his time and strength. That was the work 


First Seeds Sown 75 


which, until the year 1905, he was to carry out in the: 
numerous overcrowded prisons of Russia. It was with 
the German-born evangelist, Baedeker, whose home was 
in England and who in 1875 at the request of the In- 
ternational Bible Society first visited Russian prisons, 
that Paul Nicolay became acquainted with this work. 
His admiration of Mathilda Wrede’s work in Finland, 
which he had been able to see at close hand—including 
a visit to Kakola prison in 1888—and the enthusiasm 
with which she spoke of her work, helped to arouse his 
interest in the cause. Baedeker, who did not want to 
limit himself to distributing Bibles but also wished to 
talk to the prisoners, knew no Russian, and so it was 
in the capacity of interpreter that Baron Nicolay, who 
had by now mastered many languages, accompanied 
him in the winter of 1896 to prisons in St. Petersburg 
and Moscow. In the following year he undertook an 
independent tour to many other towns—Novgorod, 
Staraja, Russa, Tver, Bjeschetsk, Rschev, Vjasma, Ry- 
binsk. And in the succeeding years he extended his 
journeys to a great many new places, using for this 
purpose not only his longer vacations but also every 
occasional holiday from his work. These trips were ex- 
tremely taxing to the health of the physically weak 
young man. The close air of the railroad compart- 
ments, the crowds at the stations, everything, tired him. 
Yet the journey itself was not always the hardest part 
of his task. To arrive some autumn evening at a mis- 
erable country place half drowned in deep, dark mud, to 
be jolted along in a rickety cart over the poorly paved 
or entirely unpaved road, to be finally harboured in a 
dirty hotel room where the much needed sleep became an 


76 Baron Paul Nicolay 


impossibility, could be far worse. To Paul Nicolay, 
who, in spite of his ascetic nature, was used to a rela- 
tively large amount of comfort, these rooms became a 
virtual source of dread. But neither this nor anything 
else could keep him from travelling; hardships, on the 
contrary, always spurred him on to renewed efforts. 
After a more or less sleepless night it was necessary for 
him in the morning, with aching head and often shiver- 
ing with ague, to call on the prison director of the town 
and relate to him his errand. When Baron Nicolay had 
already obtained permission to visit the prisons for the 
purpose of distributing Bibles the directors were 
usually very obliging, often regarding him as a sort of 
official sent by “higher authority” to the prison. On 
one occasion a prison director greeted him in official 
tone with the report: “All is well.” When all the for- 
malities were over the prison doors were opened to 
him, and the day’s work began. This work consisted 
primarily in giving out Bibles to the prisoners, and 
Baron Nicolay was supplied with Bibles in all the lan- 
guages spoken within the Russian Empire—Russian, 
German, Polish, Esthonian, Lettish, Armenian, and 
others, including Swedish and Finnish. Occasionally 
he was permitted to accompany the prison keeper from 
cell to cell thrusting books through the doors to the 
individual prisoners. At other times all the inmates 
were assembled in the prison chapel where the books 
were distributed and where Baron Nicolay was usually 
allowed to give a religious address. The effect of the 
concentrated and apparently impenetrable mass of 
misery and crime which this audience represented often 
nearly overcame the speaker, who had to exert himself 


First Seeds Sown i 


in order to look these unfortunate people in the face. 
The need was so vast, and what he could do to relieve 
it was so extremely little. Only the thought of “the 
strength which is made perfect in weakness” brought 
back courage to carry out his purpose in spite of the 
consciousness of his own impotence. 

Paul Nicolay had the advantage over Baedeker in his 
complete mastery of the Russian language, by means of 
which he could easily make himself understood to most 
of the prisoners. They were words of comfort which 
he sought to bring these unfortunate men: “You are 
not under the wrath of God, but under the tears of 
Christ. If Christ in dying for you has done the 
greater, shall he not also do the less—forgive, receive, 
help?” He often spoke of the power of Christ to save 
and restore, especially of His power to save from the 
Russian scourge, drunkenness. This made a deeper 
impression on his audience than all else. A young 
man once fell at his feet when at the close of such an 
address the speaker handed him a copy of the New 
Testament, and a Lettish prisoner wept for joy on re- 
ceiving a copy of the New Testament in his own lan- 
guage. But the audience was not always in such a 
sympathetic frame of mind. Sometimes the men would 
talk and laugh aloud during the address in spite of the 
rigid discipline, trying to create a racket which forced 
Baron Nicolay to strain his weak voice in order to 
make himself heard. How distressing it must have 
seemed thus only from a distance to be able to talk 
to these indifferent or hostile-minded men, whom there 
was neither time nor opportunity to win, and how 
hard while journeying to the next town to recall a few 


78 Baron Paul Nicolay 


faces which stood out from the mass and impressed 
themselves on the memory of the evangelist as pictures 
of grief and sin. Neither were there always books 
enough to go round, and he was forced to let some of 
those he wished to serve turn empty-handed away. 
And the dirt, the misery, of these overcrowded Rus- 
sian prisons—is it surprising that Paul Nicolay after 
coming from one of them simply jots down the words: 
‘Dead tired!” Especially at the start of a missionary 
tour does he often feel broken in body and soul, and 
not until later comes the strength which accompanies 
every self-sacrificing work. “I feel so refreshed after 
a prison tour, just as if I was inhaling deep breaths of 
fresh air, and I am often full of gratitude to God for 
the great privilege which is granted me,” he writes on 
December 8, 1898, of a feeling which often recurs to 
him. 

How indefatigable Baron Nicolay was in his labours 
is best shown simply by enumerating the towns, merely 
in European Russia, which he visited between 1896 
and 1905. Besides places already mentioned are 
Schuja, Kineschma, Luga, Porchov, Pskov, Ostrov, 
Jamburg, Vyschnij, Volotschok, Wladimir, Valdaj, 
Torschok, Jaroslavl, Vologda, Rostov, Alexandrov and 
Arkangelsk. Most of these places were visited several 
times. In 1901 he also undertook a journey to the fa- 
mous and frightful prisons of Siberia. His diary gives 
us a detailed account of this trip. The last day of May 
Baron Nicolay left Petrograd, spending one day in 
Moscow, and then continuing to Nischnij Novgorod 
where he visited two prisons. The description of these 
visits is characteristic. “Things would not go well at 


First Seeds Sown 79 


first. I realised that I must hurry and that the ground 
was hard. It was head work and lacking in spiritual- 
ity. As I drove to the other prison I prayed the whole 
time that I might be filled with the Holy Spirit, and 
now things began to take on a new and vital turn, 
praise be to God!” Later he visited other prisons 
along the Volga and its tributaries, among them Kazan 
where Baron Nicolay was able to give his Tartar driver 
an “Ingil” (Gospel) in his own language, also Sarapul, 
Ochansk, Perm, and Vjatka. In Jekaterinburg, the last 
town passed in European Russia, he met the evangelist 
Kargel who was to accompany him to Tobolsk. From 
Tjumen, a small place on the Asiatic side, they contin- 
ued the journey by boat. Baron Nicolay studied the 
many interesting types of people on board, especially 
the Tartars of Central Asia. In Tobolsk work began 
anew. But it was not until later, on the trip up the 
Irtysch River, that he first came into touch with true 
Siberians. He writes of a town through which he 
passed: “Five high wooden crosses rose from the 
church yard pointing towards Heaven. Here Poles are 
buried, banished without doubt. Many believers have 
even been banished to the district of I-ska. The thought 
of this ill-fated country, these places of exile, and the 
misery of those who were sentenced to live here as if 
buried alive and forced to end their days in such 
wretched holes, makes one shudder.” Near Omsk he 
discovered a Finnish colony whose minister, Pastor 
Eriksson, invited him to be present at the dedication of 
a new school house where he had the opportunity of 
speaking to the colony in Finnish, thus utilising the 
ability to express himself in that language which he 


80 Baron Paul Nicolay 


had acquired on his sailing trips. "We ate, and we 
drank coffee as in Finland,” he remarks of his visit to 
Helsinki. In Tomsk, where Baron Nicolay arrived on 
the 5th of July, he passed from one overcrowded 
prison to another. In one of them he found 657 pris- 
oners whom he could only see by going from cell to 
cell. “It went all right.in the beginning when I waited 
on the Lord, but afterwards I became too tired,” he 
writes in his diary. “Gave away 350 Russian books, 
about 12 Yiddish, 8 Esthonian, 2 Lettish, and one Fin- 
nish.” Krasnojarsk, near Yenisei, the first spot from 
which the mountains could be seen, was more encourag- 
ing to the traveller. Here he distributed 990 books, 
one of the pastors of the town being sympathetic and 
helpful, and the coachman who drove Baron Nicolay 
thanked him more for the New Testament he gave him 
than for his pay. Yenisei is described in the diary as 
a magnificent river. From Irkutsk Paul Nicolay writes: 
“T feel that I have learned on this journey always to 
believe, although there may not be any visible proof, 
that I have all things in Christ, and to act accordingly. 
To-day in the prison I realised so strongly that God 
alone is the completion of God’s work, and things 
went better than usual, thanks be to God.” Trans- 
bajkal, Verhneudinsk and Tschita were the last stop- 
ping places on the journey. In all these towns he con- 
tinued the difficult and apparently almost unfruitful 
work with the same faithfulness, the same quiet con- 
fidence that “God was sufficient for His work,” and 
full of gratitude to God who by holding His protect- 
ing hand over him acknowledged him as His servant. 
From Tschita, on the 25th day of July, Baron Nicolay 


First Seeds Sown 81 


started on the long return trip. He reached home on the 
5th of August, and four days later was at Stockholm 
on his way to a Northern Student Conference. The 
fact that he had suffered from malaria on the boat trips 
in Siberia and that his strength was almost gone on 
reaching home—that was of no consequence to him 
when it was a case of following a programme of work 
previously planned. How like the words of St. Paul 
in the Second Epistle to the Corinthians (11:26, 27), 
“In journeys oft... in weariness and painful- 


39 


NESS se 


In the summer of 1899 Baron Nicolay asked for per- 
mission to resign from the department of State. This 
was granted him in November of the same year. His 
interest in the duties of his position had not increased 
in the course of the years, but rather diminished as 
his desire to work for Christ gained control over him. 
The knowledge that he could not work as the others, 
that he could never concentrate his thoughts on the 
work itself, troubled this conscientious man, who also 
felt that his health was being impaired by the divided 
attention of his life. Neither did he feel that the moral 
influence he might exert on a few companions by re- 
maining in their midst was of sufficient importance to 
make this his duty. The good friends he had made in 
the Senate and Department of State would not be lost 
by his resignation. His best friend in this official circle 
was Alexander Maximovsky, whom he had learned to 
know and love in his University days. Maximovsky, a 
highly talented man equipped with a great capacity for 
work and juridical sharp-sightedness, later became 


82 Baron Paul Nicolay 


head of the Russian prison administration in which ca- 
pacity he strove, as far as lay in his power, to realise the 
Christian principles which had become his. Even after 
the paths of the two friends had drifted apart, their 
friendship remained unchanged. 

Another factor influencing Paul Nicolay’s decision to 
give up his position in 1899 was the prospect of work 
for the Student Christian Movement, which that year 
was opening up for him. But as another chapter will 
be devoted to this, his great life work, we will merely 
touch on the incident here. 

This chapter has sought to deal with Nicolay’s work 
during a period of about ten years. Although he threw 
himself into this work with self-abandonment and en- 
thusiasm, it was natural that he could not perform it 
without occasionally resting. It was often necessary 
for him, greatly against his will, to care for his tired 
body. He suffered frequently from influenza and ma- 
laria, two diseases which it was almost impossible to 
fight successfully in the damp climate of St. Peters- 
burg or on his strenuous journeys. Neither was Mon- 
repos climatically suited as a place of residence for its 
owner, who once exclaimed with a touch of bitterness: 
“Why have I not a home in which I can live!” He was 
at times forced to yield to the demands of his physician 
and seek a cure abroad; thus visits to health resorts 
came to play an important part in his life. He was 
never an ideal patient concentrating his attention on the 
care of his health and the observance of rules. But 
these times of enforced rest seemed hard to the arduous 
worker, who, however, used them as times of intensive 
spiritual growth when thoughts might mature and the 


First Seeds Sown 83 


will be strengthened for the fight. To realise this fully 
we must accompany him on a couple of the journeys 
he was forced to undertake for his health. 

After an unusually severe attack of influenza he left, 
in August 1894, for Kneipp’s Sanatorium in Woris- 
hofen in Bavaria. On arriving there, “after half a 
minute’s examination” he is prescribed for, and he be- 
gins the life of a guest at the sanatorium, conscien- 
tiously complying with the regulations. But his diary 
reflects deep inner struggles and a burning desire, at 
least by personal testimony, here also to serve his Mas- 
ter’s cause. He seeks out among the other patients 
“des compatriotes du ciel,” and he is troubled by the 
worldliness he finds in those around him. When he 
finds it still hard for him to make the attack, he asks 
himself to what this lack of love for souls, as he calls 
it, can really be traced. Had not the destruction of the 
unconverted soul yet become a reality to him? Would 
it not be better to make the “charge” himself than 
merely to approach with open visor? His inability to 
utilise opportunities for “personal work” often dis- 
tresses him. “In books one always answers correctly, 
but I often do not know what I ought to say,” he writes 
on this subject. “If the opportunity to speak presents 
itself, I have not the desire; if I have the desire no 
opportunity presents itself.” He asks himself how he 
ought to make the attack, and as usual he can not rid 
himself of the question until he has sounded its depths. 

Again and again the solution of the problem floated 
before him, as he in time would definitely come to 
grasp it. “You should pray for the opportunity, not 
seek it—not as I will, but as God wills. No initiative 


84 Baron Paul Nicolay 


on one’s own part is necessary. All that is necessary is 
to live close to God and let oneself be led by Him. 
A Christian ought to be like a display in a shop window, 
all the merchandise must be plainly shown so that no 
explanation is needed.” His characteristic sensitive- 
ness and honesty kept him from overdoing the “wit- 
nessing” which the Anglo-Saxon custom in this respect 
might have led to. Only his old suspicion of “conven- 
ient” solutions forced him again and again to recon- 
sider the problem. In his intercourse with the other 
patients he also sought to make use of every oppor- 
tunity of helping them to Christ, certainly without 
coercing them in any way, he who had to force himself 
to aggressiveness. Some examples might be of interest. 
A Pole at the Sanatorium interests him, and he seeks 
his companionship. On a walk the man falls to his 
knees before a crucifix by the side of the road, and 
this naturally leads to an unsought-for conversation 
about sacred things. The Pole was friendly, but 
hardly receptive, and Paul Nicolay writes a few days 
later: “If I can not show him anything else, I can at 
least show him sympathy, affection.” Another time 
it is a wealthy English-speaking lady who awakens his 
interest. She evades every conversation on religious 
subjects, the reason for which soon becomes apparent 
as she isa Jewess. Later she becomes more willing to 
talk, and informs him that she is a Unitarian. "What 
shall I do, I have no arguments,” writes Nicolay in 
discouragement. His inability to argue on religious 
questions forces him to seek to clarify the basis of his 
faith which, on account of his being more ethically 
than intellectually minded and the course which his 


First Seeds Sown 85 


evangelistic work hitherto had taken, he had possibly 
too much neglected. His main argument, after seri- 
ous testing, becomes one which he willingly cited later 
in his work among students: “If Jesus is not the Son 
of God, then the main theme of the Bible is a fake.” 
He uses this as a weapon and rejoices in its success, 
but later learns what makes the greatest impression on 
others is not his argument but his own immovable and 
sincere faith, One who was wholehearted in that 
faith could never fail to attract honest seekers. “How 
important it is to be an instrument in the hand of God; 
I am led along an individual road and only need to fol- 
low my guide.” These comforting words were Paul 
Nicolay’s expression of the joyful experience he had. 

From Worishofen Baron Nicolay journeyed to Salz- 
burg where he visited Colonel Paschkov for whom the 
gates of Russia were now barred, and from there to 
Switzerland where he called on old Samuel Zeller in 
Mannedorf near the Lake of Zurich. Mannedorf has 
been described as a place “where people come who are 
afflicted with all kinds of diseases, people broken in 
body or soul, people who are melancholy or mentally 
deranged, people who have not found peace with God, 
and also people who are only physically ill—and peo- 
ple who seek a peaceful spot where mind and thoughts 
can find that quietness they crave, and where new 
strength can be found to work anew, if God so wills.” * 
On all the sick who so desired, and on those alone, 
Zeller laid his hands in prayer for them, and many 
claimed to have regained their health there. Zeller, 
who also sought to help the patients by means of a 

1 Hans Koch: “Agnes Rothe.” 


86 Baron Paul Nicolay 


healthy régime of life as well as by prayer and Bible 
readings, in which his powerful religious personality 
is brought to the fore, made a very favorable impres- 
sion on Baron Nicolay. Gentleness, strength and wis- 
dom, as weil as practical ability and cheerfulness, at- 
tracted him to this unique man. “It is a joy to hear 
him pray.” The visit to Mannedorf brought refresh- 
ment to both body and soul. 

Baron Nicolay speaks of the following year as a 
“time of spiritual testing and poor health.” But what- 
ever his difficulties at this time may have been, he was 
better equipped than ever before to face them. He 
could therefore remark that he “stuck it out and 
squeezed through.” His strength lies in the assurance 
that Jesus is in him and he in Jesus, and never for an 
instant does he lose hold of the thought that “Jesus for 
me covers the past, Jesus im me supplies all needs of the 
present.” He sees still clearer that Jesus’ work is far 
bigger and wider than we can now have any concep- 
tion of; what we may know of it now is merely a 
glimpse of the greatest. In the beginning of the year 
1896 he writes that he is again giving himself over 
to God as a slave—simply as a slave. We recall that 
this was the year in which he began his work in the 
prisons. But his poor health necessitated his going 
abroad again at the end of September to Adelboden in 
Switzerland, where he spends some weeks. Here the 
old problem of “testifying” faces him anew, but, as 
before, he comes to the correct conclusion: all that is 
needful is "to walk hand in hand with God throughout 
the day, to enter into it in the guidance of the Holy 
Spirit.” In Adelboden he attended several religious 


4 


First Seeds Sown 87 


meetings, including a “Meeting of the Brethren,” to 
which people came from many different directions and 
the spirit of which greatly impressed him. A trip to 
Hauptweil followed, a place of rest for tired Christian 
workers where he was at first ‘bored,’ for he had 
nothing to do and to listen to many addresses during 
the day he found too strenuous. But intercourse with 
Stockmayer, the director of the institution, and one 
of the nurses, Schwester Emilie, brought him much 
that was worth while, and when he leaves Hauptweil 
he remarks that he has here learned how much he still 
has to learn. Stockmayer’s parting words: “We are 
going towards the same goal, guided and protected,” 
are long echoed in his soul. 

The friends Baron Nicolay made on his foreign 
journeys and the impressions he received abroad be- 
came of great import to his spiritual development. Of 
all the countries visited during his lifetime—and that 
life could be called one long pilgrim journey—none 
made as deep an impression on him or became as dear 
to him as England, "dear old England,” as he nearly 
always calls it in his letters, and which he often longed 
for during the later years of his life. The English 
language and English customs he had become familiar 
with even in the nursery. His sisters and he had been 
cared for by an English nurse, and English had, in 
compliance with the old family traditions, along with 
German been the language spoken in the home. He 
had in his youth through the Paschkovites also learned 
to know and appreciate the Anglo-Saxon form of re- 
ligion. A strong feeling of spiritual fellowship al- 
ways filled him in his intercourse with English friends. 


88 Baron Paul Nicolay 


This feeling was greatly strengthened during his visit 
to England in the autumn of 1897, when he visited 
many old friends—Dr. Baedeker in Weston-super- 
Mare, Mr. and Mrs. Penn-Lewis and Mr. Sloan, the 
deputy director of the China Inland Mission living in 
Bromley, near London, whose whole family he was 
very fond of and with whom he corresponded up to the 
time of his death. He took part, on this trip, in a con- 
ference at Cambridge, after which he journeyed to 
France where he no longer had that same feeling of 
being at home. For Paris and the Parisians he has 
only words of disapproval; he gets a painful impres- 
sion here of moral decadence. He feels quite foreign 
to the relatives he visits in France on this occasion. 
Towards the close of the year 1897 and during the 
first months of the following year Baron Nicolay suf- 
fered more than usual from attacks of fever and ma- 
laria. When no cure or medical treatment seemed 
to avail he began to wonder whether he ought not to 
refrain entirely from all human expedients, and seek 
his cure from God alone. A visit from Baedeker, who 
claimed to hold views expressed in the last chapter of. 
the Epistle of James, strengthened this belief, and he 
now made several attempts, after prayer for healing, 
entirely to ignore his illness; to “receive in faith” the 
cure whose coming was delayed. It seemed so hard 
never to use more than “half the engine,” not to be 
able to give all that he wished, and it was such a hu- 
miliation to his strong faith that he was powerless to 
pray his way through this weakness. Each time a cure 
proved to be a failure, each time the symptoms of 
malaria made their appearance on the journey home 


First Seeds Sown 89 


from the sanatorium, the disappointment he experi- 
enced was equally keen. Prolonged experience, as well 
as talks with Mr. Sloan and Dr. Hudson Taylor, the 
well-known Missionary to China, who came to visit him 
in St. Petersburg, gradually led him to the conclusion 
that the use of remedies was justified even if it was 
only for a time that it alleviated suffering, the complete 
cure of which was evidently not according to God’s 
will. “God is always right,” he would say to drive off 
the feeling of disappointment, and he taught himself to 
see that "the best way to bear trials was to accept them.” 
The fact that his illness forced him to spend so much 
time on himself was especially trying to him. He was 
troubled by the enforced idleness. “Can God permit 
such an easy life as mine?” he asks himself. The words 
seem like a paradox in face of the great burden of 
work he was carrying at this time, but they were spoken 
in all seriousness. Complete self-abnegation always 
seemed to Paul Nicolay to be the Christian’s aim; we 
recall his “giving up one’s own convenience” at the 
time of his consecration. “My motto will be selfishness 
with a cross over it,’ + he writes with a characteristic 
turn of the pen. The belittling of self seemed to him 
the first condition of a fruitful life; selfishness brings 
its own punishment—unfruitfulness. His exhortation 
to himself one New Year sounds like a cry for perfec- 
tion in the fulfilment of duties. "Be friendly, friendly, 
friendly! If possible never defer the performing of a 
duty. Never let time be wasted. Duty first; duty, cost 
what it may. Be always true in all things.” His crav- 
ing for self-renunciation reaches its height in the fol- 


1 Quoted from Paul Nicolay’s English diary. 


90 Baron Paul Nicolay 


lowing: “When one renounces self, one ought also to 
renounce all dreaming and thinking where self plays a 
part.” This bespeaks battle, and there is much to 
show that these years were times of trying experiences, 
of difficult inner struggles to Paul Nicolay. In 1899 
he was stricken with a bitter sorrow, and it may be the 
echo of this which reverberates in these lines written 
in spite of his severe judgment of his dreams: “I have 
like most people had a beautiful hope, but God has not 
realised it.” But the backward look was not allowed 
to influence the course of life. Paul Nicolay has learned 
to look ahead where things were waiting to be done, 
and close upon the sad words follows the courageous 
decision: “I therefore want the ambition of my life to 
be to glorify God in speech and self-sacrifice.” These 
words were written in 1899 when Baron Nicolay was 
about to “give up everything” and enter upon a new 
field of labour where the harvest was plenteous and the 
labourers none. He was now to find the task, which he 
alone was called to perform—work among young peo- 
ple who were thirsting for truth, who were, during 
the remainder of his life, to mean more to him than 
brother and sister, father and mother, or worldly 
goods, and in whose service he would utilise all that 
he himself had gained through personal seeking and 
personal strife. 


CHAPTER V 
Among Russia’s Students 


i the spring of 1899 Dr. John R. Mott, General 

Secretary of the World’s Student Christian Federa- 
tion, and Dr. Karl Fries, its Swedish Chairman, came 
to Helsingfors, where a group of students within the 
Y. M. C. A. purposed to organise an independent Stu- 
dent Christian Movement. Baron Nicolay was in- 
vited to take part in the conference where this was 
to be discussed, and he was also asked if it would be 
advisable for Dr. Mott to go to St. Petersburg also, to 
speak about the work of the Student Christian Move- 
ment and possibly lay the foundation for a similar 
work in Russia. Baron Nicolay replied that it would 
not be a complete impossibility, and stressed the fact 
that the low moral tone and the spiritual need of the 
student world of Russia urged an attempt to reach 
them. The letter ended with the words: “We can 
promise you no meetings, but Russia is the land of pos- 
sibilities, as some one said, and it is worth while try- 
ing. Come and see for yourself what can be done. 
iWe will continue in prayer.” 

In April Baron Nicolay met both of the student 
leaders in Helsingfors. He was greatly impressed by 
the personality of the energetic American with his 
strong faith—“genuine, unaffected, calm,” is his com- 


ment on Dr. Mott; and he became deeply interested in 
91 


92 Baron Paul Nicolay 


this work with which he was now brought into touch 
for the first time. The aim of this work—to make 
Christ King among the students of the whole world— 
must have appealed to such a mind as his. When 
Dr. Mott went from Helsingfors to St. Petersburg 
to see for himself "what could be done,” Baron Nicolay 
went with him and remained as his assistant and guide. 
They were unable to arrange for public meetings, but 
in St. Petersburg as in Dorpat and Riga, where Dr. 
Mott made short visits, he was able to address smaller 
groups. 

It was one evening at the home of Princess Lieven, 
where the foreign visitor was telling of the work of the 
World’s Student Christian Federation, that became de- 
cisive for the future course of Paul Nicolay’s life. 
During the address it occurred to him, that possibly the 
man whom God should call to organise a Christian 
Movement among Russia’s students might be among 
the audience in that very room. He glanced from one 
to another of those present, but he found no one whom 
he could picture as a leader of such a work. And then 


- with dread he was forced to ask himself: "Could I 


be the man? Has God allowed me to grow up, study, 
and work in this country among Greek-Orthodox com- 
panions, has He allowed me to become familiar with 
the Russian language and customs, and given me be- 
sides an evangelical home and contact with Christians 
of Western Europe, to prepare me rather than all 
others for thus task?” Thus approximately must the 
question have come to him, and the answer had to be 
an unconditional “Yes.” Paul Nicolay had trained 
himself to obey higher orders, and he now laid the 


Among Russia’s Students 93 


hand of his will to the new plough. Many times were 
doubts of his own ability for the position to steal over 
him, threatening to overpower him, but he would not 
take his hand from the plough until it should be for- 
cibly torn from his grasp. 

The students of Russia! Although there was a great 
deal to prove how especially equipped to serve them 
Paul Nicolay was, it must be admitted that there was 
almost equally much to prove the opposite. What pros- 
pect in the work itself could this half-foreign Baron 
with his puritanically tempered religiousness, his reti- 
cent and reserved demeanour, and his Western Euro- 
pean outlook on life, have of approaching this mass of 
vibrating nerves, hungry intellects, and surging chaotic 
emotions, which is, or rather was, called the studying 
youth of Russia? 

He had received his education and his scientific 
training in Russian schools, but as one of his closest 
relatives, Baron A. Meyendorff, puts it, he had “passed 
through the Russian ‘gymnasium’ and the Russian law 
school with evident aversion although with remarkable 
conscientiousness.” Hardly a single expression of the 
Russian mind, be it in art, science, or public life, con- 
tinues Meyendorff, had taken root in him, save only 
the essentially democratic conception of life and the 
indifference to conventionalities which characterised 
him. He never really lived the life of a student. What 
could he know, except through books or by hearsay, of 
the cold attic or cellar room where a student shivered 
over the borrowed book and sought warmth through a 
glass of often unsweetened tea, or argued into the small 
hours of the night about modern social, philosophical, 


94 Baron Paul Nicolay 


or ethical theories with companions as threadbare as 
the host himself? He had not eaten scanty meals in 
cheap student restaurants, nor run long distances 
through the capital in search of poorly paid tutorial 
positions; nor, above all, ever had the police close at 
his heels. Never in his youth had he been the least 
bit revolutionary, but, on the contrary, belonged to a 
class which shrugged its shoulders at the ‘Nihilists.’ 
No, he had never been a Russian student in the true 
sense. One reason for his so seldom coming into con- 
tact with those of his fellow students who were not 
born into his social position was the political oppres- 
sion, as a result of which it was almost impossible for 
anything official in national or social life to be ques- 
tioned. 

Illuminating to Paul Nicolay’s relation to these fel- 
low students is an entry in his diary of 1882. He is 
telling of a comrade who visited him and played chess 
with him. They entered into conversation in which his 
companion shows himself to be a man “of character 
and strong principles.” And he continues: "Maybe 
through him I could get to know students of the 
simpler, poorer, but industrious and honest class. This 
would evidently mean breaking from my old habits, 
but perhaps it might be for my own best.” Pride it 
certainly was not which formed the gulf between young 
Nicolay and his companions of the “simpler, poorer 
class,” for that trait was entirely foreign to his straight- 
forward, unpretentious nature. One of his colleagues 
in the Imperial Senate tells that what he can best re- 
member of Paul Nicolay from the time they were to- 
gether is his severe criticism of a companion whom 


Among Russia’s Students 95 


he found to be conceited. This trait continued to be 
repulsive to him in every form. The cause of the chasm 
separating him from the mass of the Russian student 
world must, if external conditions be disregarded, be 
sought in a different side of his character and outlook 
on life. His outlook on life was, even in its religious- 
ness, to a great extent “matter-of-fact,” thoroughly 
sober and practical. It might be said, probably with a 
slight exaggeration, that ideas were realised by him 
only in that measure in which they could be applied to 
life; words to him were significant primarily as the 
forerunners of action. The less real and less effective 
must, in accordance with his views, always be sub- 
jected to the more genuine; consequently the esthetic 
and intellectual must give way to the religious which 
leads more directly to God—in his eyes the only great 
reality. He who held such a view could hardly be at- 
tracted by the Russian intellectuals’ vague and often 
impassioned ideals, their lack of moral and physical dis- 
cipline, and their rationalism. Their finest traits of 
character—their impulsive cordiality and freedom from 
criticism of other people, and the unlimited capacity 
for devotion to an ideal—often found expression in 
ways which could not attract him, who was primarily 
a man of will power. And the faults which predomi- 
nated among the Russian intellectuals were of the na- 
ture which he was least inclined to judge mildly. Thus 
there arose a breach between him and the people whom 
in 1899 he felt called to serve. Six years earlier, when 
he had once felt called to address a group of fifteen 
Russian students and follow it with a discussion, he 
had been conscious of not knowing how to treat “these 


96 Baron Paul Nicolay 


young rationalists.” And yet there was a power which 
should be able to break down all barriers between him 
and Russian students. It was the great “love for souls” 
for which he so often prayed and which, unknown to 
him, burned within him forcing him along paths which 
of his own free will he would never have chosen. 
Great need—soul need—prevailed among “these 
young rationalists.’ The religious and moral condi- 
tions of the educated Russians presented, as a rule, a 
pathetic picture. To the Greek-Orthodox students the 
idea of a personal religion was usually unknown. Most 
of the students who came from country districts or 
from less highly educated homes in the larger towns, 
maintained during their years of study a sort of secret 
fondness for the ceremonies of the church which were 
familiar from childhood; others a dim religiousness 
tinted with mysticism; while an occasional one really 
preserved his childhood’s faith as a vital power. Most 
of them turned with indifference and scorn away from 
the Orthodox Church, whose clergy, by their narrow- 
minded dogmatism, or, more often, their personal in- 
dolence and lack of idealism, repelled young people. 
Those students who came from homes of priests were 
themselves often the greatest haters of priests. And 
when the national church was weighed in the balance 
and found wanting most of them were ready to have no 
more dealings with any form of religion. The exist- 
ence of God might possibly be discussed from a philo- 
sophical point of view, but, with the new century, the 
materialistic theories were still so popular that even 
this was unusual. To be religious was usually con- 
sidered synonymous with being reactionary—the worst 


Among Russia's Students 97, 


thing possible in the eyes of the Russian youth—and 
the empty space left by religion was gradually filled by 
politics. Socialistic and anarchistic theories became to 
most of these young men their religion. They spoke 
of “revolutionary ethics,” “the revolutionary con- 
science,” which were often widely different not only 
from Christianity’s higher conception of ethics and 
conscience, but also from what usually goes by that 
name from the ordinary human point of view. This 
mirage of a revolution became a Moloch to which 
youth, strength, personal safety, and life itself were 
brought as an offering. It was at least an ideal. But 
although this rising flame of revolutionary idealism 
did lead its followers to Siberia or to the gallows, it 
often happened that it died down with the first glow 
of youth only to leave behind a pile of burned out ashes. 
That weariness of life and melancholy, which Tschehoft 
expresses so vividly in his novels, or at least a dull 
tedium which created the need for losing one’s self in 
the crowd to become "like the others,” replaced the lost 
enthusiasm. And they became like the others, entered 
into the trivialities of everyday life, lied and were gay 
like them, sometimes like them under the influence of 
drink, or in a time of uproar voiced their wail of woe 
against society and existence. For it was not they 
themselves, but rather “the cursed system” and “our 
unfortunate Russian nature’ which was to blame for 
everything, as had been proved in the time of her world 
wars. That much and hardly more; for when a man’s 
faith in the only ideal served by his mind and soul, 
namely the revolution, is lost, he usually loses hold of 
all other ideals, simply “throwing the child out with the 


98 Baron Paul Nicolay 


bath water.” And it must be admitted that "the cursed 
system” was such as could break the moral stamina of 
many a pure but weak nature who lacked the support of 
a firm foundation or hallowed traditions. The doors 
to all kinds of lawful social and political activities were 
closed, officials and representatives of free professions 
lived generally in economic distress, flaring were the 
injustices of the social order, and the gulf between the 
great mass of the people and the "intellectuals” so 
great as to encourage in the latter a feeling of isola- 
tion and lack of foundation. All this created an un- 
healthy and depressing atmosphere, a spirit of weari- 
ness of life which came to even the youngest. Many 
passed through their revolutionary period as “gym- 
nasiasts” and entered the University free from all illu- 
sion, with merely the deep desire for more enjoyment 
than ever before. Many never came as far, but were 
overcome by the pain and sorrow of the world, suc- 
cumbed to despair over unsatisfactory examination re- 
sults, and put an end to their lives. There was need, 
deep soul need. : 

Baron Nicolay was not ignorant of these conditions. 
He had noticed among his associates in the Senate and 
Parliament dishonesty and laziness in otherwise amia- 
ble men, and in the prisons he had laid eyes on prodigals 
who had known better days but were dragged down 
by fatal circumstances which they were powerless to 
combat. He had seen noble natures go astray, which 
with care could have developed to their full beauty, 
gaining a new and fuller value of life in a disconsolate 
world. Others answered the question, “What can bring 
Help?” with a change of government, a constitution, a 


Among Russia’s Students 99 


democratising of society, more culture. To Paul Nico- 
lay the reply was entirely different. Past the externals 
he looked into the heart of the matter: no system could 
avail if it lacked the people to support it. Offer an ill 
person the most delicious food and he turns away from 
it or eats it to his own destruction; but cure him first 
and then he can benefit by even the coarsest bread. 
What Russia needed, as Nicolay saw it, was the renew- 
ing of the whole individual by a living ideal and an im- 
perishable hope, the vital power which comes through 
intercourse with Jesus Christ, the Savior of life. This 
consciousness helped him across the gulf which sepa- 
rated him from the Russian students, and for their 
sake he became one of them—‘“Greek among Greeks,” 
wrote one who had watched him in the work. “All 
things to all men that he might by all means save some.” 
When later at the conference of the World’s Student 
Christian Federation he described the life of the Rus- 
sian student, the terrible loneliness, the unwholesome 
living conditions, the moral indecision, he spoke no 
longer as an outsider, for he had lived and suffered 
and loved his way into what he depicted. 

After Dr. Mott’s departure Baron Nicolay began in 
his quiet, faithful way, without any vast plans for the 
future, to make use of the impulses which his visit had 
called forth. In the latter part of the summer, while 
visiting abroad, he carried on an eager correspondence 
with some of the leaders and workers of the World’s 
Student Christian Federation, among others with the 
German Missionary, Witt. It was necessary first to se- 
cure foreign speakers willing to speak at St. Petersburg 
and possibly also at other Russian cities during the en- 


100 Baron Paul Nicolay 


suing year. As we know, Baron Nicolay had already 
sent in to the government his resignation at the close of 
that summer’s missionary journey and before his trip 
abroad. This was granted on the twelfth of Novem- 
ber, from which date he was free to devote himself to 
his new task. But he did not immediately give up his 
missionary work in the prisons. Not until 1905 did he 
give up that work, and then reluctantly, forced by 
the steadily increasing burden of his labour in the serv- 
ice of the students. 

Mr. Witt came to St. Petersburg in November to de- 
liver a series of addresses for German students, and 
during his visit a group of those interested in the Stu- 
dent Christian Movement met for an advisory meeting 
in the home of the bookdealer Grote. This meeting took 
place November 18, 1899, which day thus became the 
birthday of the Russian Student Movement. Those 
who were then present were, besides Baron Nicolay, 
Witt, Grote and one of his friends, four German stu- 
dents and one of Polish origin, a member of a Roman 
Catholic family, though himself a Protestant. This 
man had been led to a personal faith through reading 
one of Moody’s books which he discovered in a little 
second-hand bookstore. They met to discuss the pos- 
sibilities and ways of the work; no more was as yet 
conceivable. But nevertheless it seemed a great and 
important event. Baron Nicolay wrote about it in his 
diary: "We expect God to lead us step by step, and we 
feel the significance of this beginning, since from a 
grain of mustard seed it may develop into a big tree. 
How important to begin aright!” 

A very small beginning, a veritable grain of mustard 


Among Russia’s Students 101 


seed, the first year’s activity among students proved to 
be. By political and religious compulsion their hands 
were bound. They could not hope to reach large 
crowds with the evangelistic message but had to fight 
for permission even to talk toa small group. It was to 
the Protestant students alone they could turn in the 
beginning, gathering them together for Bible study and 
inviting them to the addresses of the foreign speakers, 
Witt, Hartwig, Baedeker. The larger gatherings were 
held in the hall of the Lutheran City Mission. But not 
even here could they meet without difficulty, for the 
Lutheran pastor, accustomed to annoyances from the 
authorities and also rather suspicious of the new move- 
ment’s sectarian aims, at first proved to be moderately 
hostile. Baron Nicolay explained with difficulty that 
he was “neither for nor against any church, but only 
for God agaist sin.” Gradually the pastor’s doubts 
were dispelled, and he was even willing to take part in 
the work, although still urging the obtaining of proper 
police permission and that the work should, for safety, 
be considered as a branch of the German Y. M. C. A. 
Once a week the students met in the home of Baron 
Nicolay for Bible Study under his or the Pastor’s lead- 
ership. The number attending these meetings fluctu- 
ated greatly and was never large; even in the second 
year of the work there were usually only three or four 
students who attended. Baron Nicolay saw clearly 
from the first that the movement must begin with the 
winning of a few individuals, but nevertheless it was 
discouraging to see how few he was able to reach, es- 
pecially as he did not succeed during the first years in 
leading any members of the Bible group to a real de- 


102 Baron Paul Nicolay 


cision for Christ. The Pole, Mr. S., was for long 
the only converted one among the young men. 

In the spring of 1900 Baron Nicolay was greatly 
encouraged in his work by the invitations he was able 
to accept to student conferences in many countries, a 
Finnish one at Abo, a German one at Eisenach, and an 
international one at Versailles. On his being invited 
to the latter two he wrote to Dr. Mott:* “Your pro- 
posal to come to the conference at Versailles was a 
surprise, but as I hope to be at Keswick in July I will 
do what I can to be at Versailles on the 4th of August. 
May the Lord’s will be done in this matter. I should 
like to go to Eisenach on the oth of August. There is 
no work to which I feel myself so much drawn and for 
which I would be glad to devote my life as just the 
Lord’s work amongst students. But as yet I have no 
conclusive indications of His calling me into it and 
therefore I remain somewhat reserved, waiting for the 
Master's orders, whatever they may be. John 3:27.” ? 

Baron Nicolay was very happy to feel that he was 
wanted at the Abo Conference. Although his work 
among Finland’s students will be taken up more fully 
later, it might be of interest here, as he stands on the 
threshold of his career as a student leader, to mention 
some of his impressions of the conference at Abo and 
his contribution to it. Both are characteristic of his 
conception of the work he was about to undertake. He 
was delighted to find at Abo over “150 people, mostly 
students, both men and women, gathered for such a 
purpose,” but he had certain objections to the organisa- 


1 Quoted from the original English letter. 
2“A man can receive nothing except it be given him from 
heaven.” 


Among Russia’s Students 103 


tion of the conference. In the first place he was dis- 
satisfied with the name “Student Conference with a 
Christian Programme.” Not only the programme, but 
the whole conference should be Christian. He also 
wished that future student conferences might last at 
least four days, and not as now a little more than two; 
the programme could not be condensed into so short a 
time. At present there was “too much preaching, lit- 
tle rest, little spirituality’—time was needed for prayer 
meetings and private interviews in order to dissolve 
and absorb what had been heard. At least one evening 
should be set aside for an “aftermeeting’” and private 
talks with the students, for the "net should be drawn 
in, the iron forged while it is hot.” The public should 
not be permitted to attend the meetings, whose ad- 
dresses should primarily bear on the needs of the stu- 
dents present, for the public intruded and gave a super- 
ficial atmosphere and took up room. 

His conception of the problems confronting the stu- 
dent work at this time, when he is still hesitantly ask- 
ing himself whether God has a place for him in this 
work, is significant. But especially characteristic of 
him is his striving for depth, sincerity and spirituality 
in Christian work. This is apparent in all his proposals. 
Such striving was even evident in his speeches, in his 
contributions to discussions, and it was already plain 
that he would in time occupy a prominent place in the 
Student Movement of Finland. 

Baron Nicolay went, as he had planned, from Kes- 
wick to attend the conference at Versailles. Although 
his health was very poor at the time of the conference, 
he felt that he was richly benefited by the interesting 


104 Baron Paul Nicolay 


reports of the delegates from the different nations. 
He was especially impressed by the appeal of the repre- 
sentative from China, which brought him for the first 
time into touch with the Christianity of the Far East. 
He remained merely a listener and observer on this oc- 
casion. 

At Eisenach, the next conference he attended, he felt 
far less at home. He considered that many of the ad- 
dresses were “lengthy and far too scientific,’ and de- 
spondently asked himself why he had come. But he 
soon made many worth-while friends, and his first feel- 
ing of being ill at ease was to a certain extent over- 
come. He was invited to speak on the Russian work, 
and had the opportunity to secure speakers for Russia. 
From Eisenach he went to Blankenburg to attend an 
alliance meeting, and from there to Davos for rest and, 
as usual, to seek a cure for the persistent malaria. 
Here he stayed in a villa most of whose occupants were 
Englishmen, and he thoroughly enjoyed hearing and 
speaking English and the intercourse with English peo- 
ple. He rejoiced especially in his fellowship with Dr. 
Hudson Taylor, whom he had long known and admired 
and whose simple, lovable, and childlike prayer-life 
strongly appealed to him. Here he had also the op- 
portunity of meeting Mr. Sloan and travelling with 
him to Zurich, where the change of air was immediately 
felt in the further impairment of Baron Nicolay’s 
health. But again, as formerly, he received strength to 
ignore his physical weakness. The work was waiting 
for him; even in Davos he had reproached himself for 
his inactivity, and “felt his spiritual weapons being 


Among Russia’s Students 105 


blunted,” and had undertaken, though a patient himself, 
to visit the sick in evangelistic work. He was, to be 
sure, possessed by a certain dread of St. Petersburg, 
that city of malaria, but if he was not to return 
who would take up the work for the Russian Student 
Christian Movement? He realised that he must not, at 
least for the present, abandon the post where he had 
been placed by the Master. 

On his return he took up the work with renewed 
energy, following about the same lines as in the pre- 
ceding year. Every Friday the students met for Bible 
study, and in order to incite them to self-activity and 
arouse their power for reasoning, Baron Nicolay some- 
times let them choose the subjects for discussion. He 
also urged them to keep “the Morning Watch,” by 
which he meant, as Dr. Mott expressed it, that they 
should begin each day with a quiet time alone in the 
presence of God for Bible reading and prayer. When 
foreign speakers visited St. Petersburg printed invita- 
tions were sent to a great number of students, Protes- 
tants only, but it was a great event if an audience of 
fifty actually came to the meetings. On one occasion, 
when Dr. Hartwig of Germany spoke, only thirty-five 
out of four hundred and fifty who were invited came. 
Five new students at a Bible class was considered re- 
markable, and worthy to be noted, and this in great St. 
Petersburg with its many institutions of learning and 
vast masses of students. One evening a solitary stu- 
dent made his appearance. Baron Nicolay writes con- 
cerning it, that he was at first discouraged, but that 
even that “meeting” did not prove to be entirely fruit- 


106 Baron Paul Nicolay 


less. Simply to send the young man home had evi- 
dently never occurred to him. 

Publicly announced meetings for larger student audi- 
ences could as yet not be arranged, for the police as 
well as the authorities of the Lutheran Church proved 
to be anything but accommodating. A great deal of 
faith was certainly needed in order to endure through- 
out these early beginnings. New openings must con- 
tinually be sought for, and Paul Nicolay sought and 
gradually found them, not with “his head” alone but 
also through the intuition of love and communion with 
his God. He wrote that he felt all difficulties were 
fundamentally derived from "the opposition of the un- 
seen hostile force.” In his teaching he maintained that 
all things should be “from God, through Him, and for 
Him.” But he also gradually familiarised himself 
more with what might be called the technique of the 
work, acquiring the habit of meeting “student argu- 
ments,” although he was averse to learned discussions 
and always tried to foster the spirit of “simplicity and 
devotion” at his Bible talks. He persevered, and it 
was soon evident that his labours had not been in vain. 

In 1902 there was a marked change for the better; a 
new spirit of seriousness and devotion seemed to grip 
the student members of the Movement, and there were 
evidences of real conversions among them. Baron 
Nicolay now wrote that for the second time in his life 
he felt as if a great victory had been won in the unseen 
world, It was now that the first really Russian Greek 
Orthodox students joined their numbers, making it 
possible during the early spring to hold a Russian meet- 


Among Russia’s Students 107 


ing every other week. “It is growing” was the leader’s 
joyful and confident reflection on the work. In March 
the first conference was held for all the members of the 
Bible groups, and when autumn came there was such a 
large majority of Russian student members that it was 
decided from now on to have all the meetings conducted 
in Russian, a language familiar also to the German 
members. Thus Baron Nicolay could say of the Stu- 
dent Movement in Russia, at the conference of the 
World's Student Christian Federation in Soro in 1903, 
that the “flickering wick had not been extinguished,” 
and also that “a nucleus was being formed which pos- 
sessed real life.” He rejoiced more over this nucleus of 
men with a living Christian faith than over all other 
successes, for he saw plainly that “Bible groups and 
other outward forms might lack spiritual life and thus 
become a building without a foundation, an organisa- 
tion without conversion.” 

The students who now comprised the nucleus of the 
Movement had been won through his unceasing vigi- 
lance over the flickering wick of their souls, by partici- 
pating in their moral difficulties while setting a high 
standard for them. “The aim of all our meetings is to 
lead souls to Christ, to complete conversion,” he once 
writes. And conversion he characterises thus: “To me 
it implies a genuine breaking away from all known sin, 
a surrendering of the complete personality to Christ.” 
He was convinced that God always worked from the 
inside out, and that the Student Christian Movement 
would degenerate and die out if it did not in reality 
lead souls to Christ. To fortify the members of this 


108 Baron Paul Nicolay 


“inner circle” against their temptations was now to 
become his main task, nor was this always to be an 
easy one. 

In spite of changed conditions the obstacles in the 
way of the work were many and often caused Baron 
Nicolay deep concern. He speaks in his diary about 
the students’ incapacity for independent work and the 
difficulty of having to combine German and Russian 
students with their different temperaments within the 
same groups. Many a time he is still subject to de- 
spondency, as when in the spring of 1903 during a 
serious illness he learns from his doctor that he is suf- 
fering from the early stages of hardening of the arter- 
ies. Death seems very close to him, and he sorrowfully 
reflects, “If I should die now, God would certainly 
have accomplished very little through me.” For the 
sake of his people and the Russian Student Movement 
he wanted to be allowed to live yet a while longer. For 
although he at times still wonders whether he be the 
right man to lead this Movement, he feels responsible 
for its development. During his convalescence at 
Davos he is busy translating into Russian for his stu- 
dents Dr. Mott’s book, “Individual Work for Indi- 
viduals,” and on his return to St. Petersburg he finds 
tasks of great importance awaiting him. 

Baron Nicolay discovers to his joy that “it works.” 
He is now able to arrange for two kinds of meetings 
regularly, for larger audiences and smaller groups for 
the Christian students. The meetings of the first va- 
riety were not attended by religiously minded students 
alone, but also by earnest doubters with whom Baron 
Nicolay had long private talks. In the Bible studies on 


Among Russia’s Students 109 


the great personalities of the Old Testament, which 
were held for a smaller group, the students, heretofore 
usually passive, now begin to express themselves, con- 
tributing of their own religious experiences. It is a 
joy to the leader to hear a testimony like the following: 
“T can’t help believing,’ from a young man who but a 
short time ago had said: “I can not believe,” and to see 
the changed expression in his face which had before 
told of a dull hopelessness. A recent convert confesses 
that he had nearly committed suicide, the usual resource 
of the discouraged Russian student: "I lived without 
God, and life had lost its significance for me, and I 
wanted to do away with my life; but now I have found 
God.” Baron Nicolay describes this student as “tal- 
ented, thoughtful, energetic, and kind-hearted,” and it 
‘was such a young life which came near being thrown 
away. What a joy to see him saved and happy! 

Gradually the “nucleus” is growing. When Mr. 
Robert Wilder, one of the outstanding men of the 
Student Christian Movement, visited St. Petersburg in 
1904, the number of believing students who wished to 
meet him was as high as twenty, and the Movement 
continues to reach more students. A foundation is laid 
for the work in Riga and Dorpat. When Paul Nicolay 
reflects on his own oft-recurring faintheartedness he 
feels deeply impressed by the goodness of God. 

In 1903 an important branch of the Student Move- 
ment came into existence, when its sphere of activity 
was extended to the women students—“kursistki.” It 
was in this year that Miss Ruth Rouse, woman secre- 
tary of the World’s Federation, visited the capital of 
Russia. A very small group of women students, only 


110 Baron Paul Nicolay 


ten, came to hear her at the home of Baroness Nicolay. 
Later they met at that of Miss Peucher, who under- 
took to organise this group. Quicker and richer than 
the work among the men was the development of this 
newly organised work; the inherent religiousness, the 
conscious or unconscious thirst for God was more 
marked among the women than the men students, The 
loneliness of student life was harder for them to en- 
dure, and the moral anarchy, which held sway in the 
circles where many of them were forced to move, be- 
came more quickly unbearable to the young girl than 
to the young man. Scientific materialism was, to be 
sure, most enthusiastically embraced by many “kur- 
sistki,” but to them it was largely a matter of fashion, 
seldom being based on deep study or mature convic- 
tion. When life through it became dark and empty, 
when suicide began to seem the only solution of the 
mournful problem of existence, then these naturally 
emotional and warm-hearted young girls reached forth 
eagerly for the new set of values which was being of- 
fered them. 

A Russian student has told of what an overwhelm- 
ing impression the new light in which Christianity was 
revealed by the Student Movement made on many of 
her companions. It was the message of a living God 
which gripped them irresistibly as an entirely new con- 
ception. They might even have attended church and 
called themselves Christians, but to “think of God as 
living—how glorious and yet how terrifying.” To feel 
themselves face to face with the Great One who had 
seemed infinitely removed from them by reason of His 
very holiness, became an experience naturally followed 


Among Russia’s Students 111 


by the need of a personal Savior. Thus the way was 
paved for evangelical teaching. And it was but seldom 
that this teaching led the young women away from the 
church of their fathers; as a rule they felt that they 
had simply gained a new and more intimate under- 
standing of the significance of her ritual, and a new 
longing to serve her as true Christians. 

Through the young girls who were won, the influence 
of the Student Movement penetrated more deeply into 
the homes than through the young men. Significant is 
the story of a student who came from a clerical family, 
among whom she was the only one who believed in 
God. When asked if she did not dread returning to 
such a home, she replied : “No, they know at home what 
I believe, and they envy me.” 

Miss Peucher continued to be the leader of the 
branch of the work for women, founded in 1904, 
until the year 1907, when it was taken over by 
Miss Marie Bréchet. But, as some phases of the work 
were common to that among the men, Paul Nicolay be- 
came virtually also its leader, and the work continued 
to develop along the same lines as the original Stu- 
dent Movement. 

When at the close of the year 1902 the Movement 
began to expand, Baron Nicolay realised the need for 
a stronger organisation of the inner circle which 
formed its nucleus, in order that the character of the 
work and the terms for membership might be inde- 
pendent of circumstances. In 1903 he suggested that 
the various Bible groups select “elders” (“starosty’”’) 
to lead them, and in the same year he presented to the 
members of the inner circle a “basis’—in reality a 


112 Baron Paul Nicolay 


short confession of faith—for membership in the Stu- 
dent Christian Movement. But there was a good deal 
of delay before the question of a basis was finally set- 
tled, as the declaration in its original form did not meet 
with approval and had to be worked over many times 
during the ensuing years. 

The discussions on the subject were often of a ra- 
ther violent nature. Students, and especially Russian 
students, are seldom inclined to state their views of life 
in definite terms by adopting any kind of formula— 
and they sought to give to their basis as extensive and 
vague a wording as possible. Neither was it Paul 
Nicolay’s intention to force the Student Movement into 
any dogmatic strait-jacket, but he felt keenly that it 
needed a backbone, that the movement must be made 
up of people ready also to confess with their mouths 
what their hearts believed and having a perfectly clear 
conception of their relation to Christ. He therefore 
wished to frame the declaration so that no one could 
sign it without at the same time taking his stand as 
_a Christian. In the beginning of 1905 a unanimous 
decision was finally reached on the question, and on 
February 5th fifteen students in St. Petersburg signed 
the following basis: 


“On the basis of the Gospel I believe on the Lord 
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, have experienced a 
change and given myself to the Lord, and know that 
He has received me.” 


Thus the active membership was now, as was also 
to be the case in the future, limited to a relatively small 


Among Russia’s Students 113 


group which, however, became, as Paul Nicolay so 
much desired, the force from which power and warmth 
were radiated throughout the Student Christian Move- 
ment of the entire country. 

It is amazing to note the great progress made by the 
Movement in this trying and restless period for Rus- 
sia politically, the period of the Japanese War and of 
the first Revolution. A less favourable soil for the 
spreading of religious propaganda among students, 
whose interest in politics must have become more ab- 
sorbing than ever before, can hardly be conceived of. 
And this obstacle was felt, but it was also overcome. 

Paul Nicolay himself was by no means an indifferent 
observer of what was going on. The war had from 
the start aroused in him a feeling of deep concern. “It 
is pure folly of Russia to begin war,” he writes in his 
diary. .Prophetically full of forebodings he foresees 
the coming calamities. Right before the great catas- 
trophe of Makarov’s fleet he feels exceedingly de- 
pressed, and asks himself what is about to happen! 
Eagerly he follows the course of the war, while re- 
proaching himself for his anxiety which is unworthy of 
a Christian. “It must go from defeat to defeat and 
end by a dreadful overthrow.” * The military opera- 
tions are necessary, he admits, but they are gruesome. 
The thought of the starvation and poor equipment of 
the army gives him no peace. He feels that God has 
great plans for Russia, and he predicts that before long 
—possibly within a couple of years—religious freedom 
will follow as an outcome of this war, but he finds it 
hard to rejoice over it. The future seems so uncer- 


1 Quoted from the English original. 


114 Baron Paul Nicolay 


tain. ‘You feel that you are facing unheard of events. 
I know that the Japanese must win, but it hurts so.” 

On New Year’s Day of 1905 he writes that he is 
looking forward to a “bad ‘and formidable year.” He 
has a close view of the dreadful nightmare of the so- 
called “January days,” and he watches with interest but 
without much hope the political awakening and the 
dawn of freedom in Russia. He is naturally and en- 
tirely a man of peace, deeds of violence repelling him 
even when he realises their worth, and he has possibly 
looked too deep into the wounded soul of the Russian 
people to believe in a cure by such means. The preva- 
lent unrest is, of course, a great hindrance to the work, 
but nevertheless it is carried on, and he writes in 1905 
in a letter to Mr. Wilder:* “I hope that if we are now 
in the hollow of a wave, a rise will come too. The 
46th Psalm will become very real to some of us 
shortly.” 

Two years after the Russian Revolution Paul Nico- 
lay was stricken by a great personal sorrow which 
might easily have driven him away from the young 
people to whom he was devoting his life. His dearest 
friend in Russia was, as we know, Alexander Maxi- 
movsky, who had faithfully helped him in his Christian 
work, especially among students. He had opened his 
home for the meetings of the Movement, visited stu- 
dents in their homes and helped them in many ways. 
Maximovsky was also known for his kind-heartedness 
and justice, and in every way as an unusual Russian of- 
ficial. In 1907 he fell prey to the blind terrorism 
which the revolutionary youth of Russia had seized as 


1 Quoted from the English original. 


Among Russia’s Students 115 


their only weapon, and was murdered by a fanatical 
“kursistka” during a reception in his office. 

Paul Nicolay was greatly affected by the blow; in the 
first hours of his grief he said that he felt as if a part 
of himself had been taken away, that with the loss of 
his friend half of his life had gone. But his zeal for 
the Student Movement was not lessened by this loss. 
Maximovsky had died as a Christian, and on his death- 
bed had implored pardon for his murderess; and Paul 
Nicolay avenged the death of his friend by taking up 
the increasing burden of his work for the Russian Stu- 
dent Movement with his unalterable faithfulness. The 
Revolution had at least led to an increased freedom of 
public meetings and freedom of speech, which opened 
up new possibilities for free Christian teaching. Stu- 
dents of different higher educational institutions might 
now be invited to attend public lectures, whose pur- 
pose was to counteract the strong anti-Christian propa- 
ganda of the University and arouse at least an interest 
in Christianity. Occasionally well-known foreigners 
would speak with Baron Nicolay as interpreter; he ac- 
quired great skill in the difficult task of translating into 
Russian words spoken in English, German, or French. 
But it was more usually he himself who had to go into 
the fire, and it always seemed like a baptism of fire to 
him who never entirely overcame the feeling of dis- 
comfort, almost dread, which accompanied the giving 
of a public address. 

Besides the definitely spiritual phase of the work 
Baron Nicolay had many practical cares connected with 
the arranging of lectures. Almost every time there 
was to be an outside speaker he had to go from one 


116 Baron Paul Nicolay 


authority to another, uncertain to the last minute 
whether the necessary permission would be granted— 
the Police Commissioner would refer him to the City 
Prefect, who sent him to the Minister of the Interior or 
the Clerical Consistory, and these again to the Holy 
Synod—but as a rule Baron Nicolay succeeded, through 
his perseverance, in obtaining the precious permit. 
And in the hall, secured for the occasion with almost 
equal difficulty, several hundred students might often 
gather in their eagerness to hear about the World’s 
Student Christian Federation, or to find the answer to 
the question: “Why do we need a Divine Savior?” or 
“Can an educated, thinking man believe in the Divinity 
of Jesus Christ?” 

It was in 1908 that Baron Nicolay began to be es- 
pecially interested in the latter theme, of whose basic 
significance for religious work he was aware, and he 
devoted himself with loving interest to its elaboration. 
The first time he spoke on that subject he felt that the 
audience remained untouched, and it seemed as if his 
_ task had been a complete failure. But courageously 
he repeated the experiment, this time with a very dif- 
ferent result. During the ensuing years there was no 
other theme on which he spoke so often or with such 
great success. One of his co-workers tells of how he 
would occasionally be asked to deliver the same address 
twice in the course of one week with “Soljanoj Goro- 
dok’s” large hall filled both times. Tickets had been 
distributed, but there were not enough to go around; 
students and kursistki crowded into all the corridors. 
With glowing interest and tense expression they lis- 


Among Russia’s Students 117 


tened, eagerly grasping every word that might solve the 
vital question: "Who was Christ?” 


“And Christ is presented to them as the Son of God 
in His rightful giory, and the heart of the Russian 
youth, hitherto tormented by doubts, celebrates a joy- 
ful féte; for many now know why they are alive and 
they greet each other with the customary Easter greet- 
ing, “Risen indeed.’ At one of these meetings there 
was a student who had decided to put an end to her 
life. During the preceding days she had even searched 
for a place where she could without difficulty throw 
herself under a tramway car. She had happened into 
this meeting, and now she realised that life had a mean- 
ing and that she must not take her own life. On our 
way home she said that she felt as if she were holding a 
burning light as on Maundy-Thursday, and only feared 
lest the flame might be extinguished on the way home. 
But the flame burned on and increased in brightness. 
She had found Christ, and began before long to work 
for His Kingdom.” 


Does not this simple account sufficiently illustrate the 
vast influence which these public meetings on apologetic 
subjects came to exert on the student youth of Russia? 
They also became of a truth a message of salvation. 
Now as previously it was not always Baron Nicolay’s 
arguments, however well substantiated they were, as 
much as the genuine conviction of faith behind them 
that convinced his audience. To hear this highly cul- 
tured man openly confessing Christ, to see that he could 


118 Baron Paul Nicolay 


do it without “deadening his reason,” or renouncing 
his right to historical investigation—this in itself was 
something new and great to many young people who 
wanted to believe “if only it were possible.” But the 
refractory also were gripped by the spirit which per- 
vaded the meeting. At the close of almost every ad- 
dress some of the audience asked to join Bible groups, 
where they were brought into touch with the Savior 
through the Book itself. The Gospel of Mark was 
usually the first to be studied by newcomers. Baron 
Nicolay prepared and had published at the close of 
1906 a little “hand-book” for instruction for this, the 
simplest and shortest of the Gospels. The guide book 
consisted mostly of questions and references to differ- 
ent texts, and sought to lead beginners to independent 
reading and thorough Bible study. Not all those who 
joined the Bible groups continued to attend them; 
many disappeared after a short time. But lasting as- 
sets were also gained. 

Baron Nicolay himself was far from always con- 
scious of the great progress of the work and of his own 
growing influence. Again and again during the years 
following the Revolution can be found utterances of 
his which reflect weariness and a sense of failure. If 
several students demonstratively left the hall during an 
address, if the membership decreased in some years, the 
feeling that all had been in vain might steal over him. 
It was not the cause that was hopeless, not God who 
had forsaken His servant, but the servant who had 
not been equal to his task. He writes to Dr. Mott of 
the first public addresses in a characteristic way." “As 


1 Quoted from the English original. 


Among Russia’s Students 119 


I was the lecturer and am not gifted as a speaker, the 
first and third lectures were not successful. . . .” 

“T am not suited for this work—not that it could not 
succeed, but I am not suited,” he once writes in his 
diary. ‘But I must endure through the winter for 
Mott’s sake. . . .” ‘“Too old, too weak, too nervous, 
too far removed from the students’—thus he charac- 
terises himself, and on another occasion he feels that 
he is "neither spiritually nor intellectually on that level 
which is required in order to deliver public addresses.” 
But he endured, not only for Dr. Mott’s sake, but also 
for the work itself, for God’s sake; and at times a 
brighter outlook on the work was granted him. He 
could not fail to notice the hush that occasionally fell 
over the audience during his address, like a breath of 
the Spirit of the Eternal. He must even have noticed 
how God opened up for him one door after another 
“in that land where it is impossible to undertake any- 
thing unless God go before.” Therefore he never 
despairs, although the field of labour be immense and 
the obstacles many and unforeseen. In his own anxiety 
and struggling he merely sees a pledge that God will 
bless the work. ‘You must bleed to bless,” remains one 
of his characteristic sayings. And as an antidote for 
his tendency to focus his attentions on his own inability 
he loves to quote a phrase, used by his friend Mr. 
Wilder : "God's biddings are God's enablings.” 

In 1907 Baron Nicolay, on his way to Japan to take 
part in a conference of the World’s Student Christian 
Federation, started the work in Moscow, where a 
Movement was soon to be formed having the same basis 
as that at St. Petersburg. A Miss D. took charge of this 


120 Baron Paul Nicolay 


work, giving up her own interests in order to give her- 
self unreservedly to the cause of the students. “She 
fights for Christ like a lioness,” was the verdict of Miss 
Rouse, who visited Moscow as well as several other 
Russian cities. In 1910 the Movement spread to Kieff. 
The net was beginning to envelop many Russian Uni- 
versity towns, in Dorpat and Riga the foundations for 
the work having already been laid. 

The difficult task of organising the work at all these 
centres fell also to Baron Nicolay. Local leaders came 
to him with all their troubles ; and he it was who forged 
together the links of the movement from the different 
unions, and also formed and maintained connections 
with the organisations of other lands. It was difficult 
to find men suited to lead Bible study groups or take 
charge of the practical side of the work; and as the 
Movement spread Baron Nicolay was forced to look 
for helpers from America. Many of these assistants 
proved to be both suitable and interested, but the Rus- 
sian language was a great stumbling-block to them. To 
give them a true understanding of the Russian nature 
—so unlike the American—and to reconcile the stu- 
dents’ sensitive nationalism to these foreign leaders 
was not always easy. The “American” question as 
well as that of the unconfessional character of the 
Movement were brought up for many a heated debate 
at Association meetings, and caused a good deal of irri- 
tation among the members. To strive to smooth over 
these controversies without losing any of the accessible 
working power became an added task for the leader of 
the Movement. 

Thus the grain of mustard seed had grown into a 


Among Russia’s Students 121 


large tree, and the quiet humble gardener had enough 
to do in tending it. The manner of its growth can 
most clearly be followed by quoting some excerpts 
from Baron Nicolay’s letters to Dr. Mott—modest, 
positive accounts of his work. We begin with a letter 
written in 1910 and referring, among other things, to 
the matter of the Americans newly arrived.” 


“Vou will have heard by this time that some unfortu- 
nate misunderstanding has taken place in choosing Mr. 
A. for the Mayak,? and that Mr. G. finds that he can- 
not be of any help there. . . . The thought naturally 
came to me that ‘maybe’ this misunderstanding might 
be part of God's plan to give us another helper besides 
Mr. D., but that everything depended on Mr. A.’s per- 
sonality. The issues at stake are so great that we can- 
not afford to take a man only to keep him from going 
back to America, and that the wrong man in Russia 
would be the worst disaster that could befall us. I 
thought that the first requisite would be that the man 
for Russia should have come to Jesus Christ himself 
and have found in Him his personal Savior. Sec- 
ondly, that he should be a teachable, prudent, thought- 
ful, prayerful and sympathetic man, willing to learn 
before teaching others, and willing, first of all, to learn 
to know the situation; thirdly—a man with Bible 
knowledge and experience in Bible study work, and a 
full-fledged student. I gave much weight to Mr. D.’s 
impression of Mr. A., but wanted also to judge for my- 
self. This evening we had a good bit of conversation 


1 Quoted from the original English letter. 
2 Russian branch of the Y.M.C.A. 


122 Baron Paul Nicolay 


and I found that on all these mentioned points he seems 
to answer the demands... . 

“You will be glad to hear that the Moscow students 
are working with heroic devotedness and that their 
number is growing. I wish it was the same spirit here. 
Some of our members have even fallen off. I have held 
a series of addresses [three themes] with a satisfactory 
attendance, and as a result about two dozen men have 
entered Bible circles, but some of them will again fall 
off, very likely. 

“I intend soon to go to Kieff to try to pick up the 
thread where I dropped it last autumn, but I really 
do not know if it is wise to give public student ad- 
dresses and form circles without having anybody on 
the spot to carry it on. 

“In Odessa some five to six men are trying to form 
a group and ask me to come, but there too it would 
hardly be advisable to launch out. 

“And yet, on the other hand, when you hear of al- 
most daily suicides of students and hear how they are 
groping in the dark, you feel most anxious to help at 
least some by evangelistic meetings. 

“Mr. D. is doing nicely. The men like him and seem 
to feel him one of them. . . . He does not seem to be 
a linguist, but by dint of perseverance he will certainly 
master enough of the language to speak fluently next 
autumn, and make himself understood. 

“Our monthly periodical, the ‘Listok,’ is being car- 
ried on with fairly good success. . . .” 


A letter dated April 26, 1910, gives us a still more 


Among Russia’s Students 123 


vivid picture of Baron Nicolay as a pioneer and or- 
ganiser :* 

“Your and Mr. S.’s very kind lines reached me when 
I was on the point of starting for Moscow, Kieff and 
Odessa, so I preferred delaying my answer until I had 
seen the latter places. In Moscow Miss D.’s and A.’s 
zeal and faithful devotedness to their work is beyond 
all praise. Ten women’s groups and six or seven for 
men are in existence. . . . A certain friction between 
the pietistic and the intellectual element is being felt 
there. ... I hope they will pull together, under- 
standing how necessary both currents are. I asked an 
experienced man and woman student to come with us 
to Kieff. Their assistance has proved to be exception- 
ally valuable, and I hope to be able to repeat the experi- 
ment in the future. 

“In Kieff (13,000 students) the character of the 
place and students is somewhat different from Mos- 
cow. The Jews are numerous and form a compact 
group. The present attitude of the young educated 
Jews and Jewesses is most interesting. They cling to 
their nation on national grounds, but feel themselves 
estranged from their orthodox co-religionaries intel- 
lectually and morally. They have perverted views about 
Christianity (no wonder), have no ideals, no hopes, 
and are as in a wood not knowing which way to turn. 
Their mental keenness and openness are promising. The 
Poles (Catholics) form another compact group, a world 
for themselves; many rich dandies among them. An 
interesting religious movement is making itself felt 


1 Quoted from the original English letter. 


124 Baron Paul Nicolay 


among the Catholic students too, and gives us points 
of contact with a few individuals. The Russian men 
and women students in Kieff seem inferior to the 
Moscovites in independence and energy. Official op- 
pression is more keen and they live more solitary lives, 
especially the kursistki. This is said to be the cause of 
many suicides. On the other hand, the Moscovite kur- 
sistka who helped me in Kieff says there is more in- 
terest among the women students for religious ques- 
tions in Kieff than in Moscow. 

“I gave two lectures—one on the Diety of Christ 
with 500 attendants, men and women students only, 
and one on a religious theme: “What reality can Christ 
bring into our lives,” with 200, and the behavior of the 
audience was good. Ninety took inquiry cards,’ but 
only 12 sent them to me. The upshot of over a fort- 
night’s stay was one woman’s group of 10 and two 
men’s groups of five or six reliable members in each— 
after the chaff had fallen off. God’s assistance was es- 
pecially visible in our finding leaders whom God seemed 
to have prepared. I find the result meagre, but suppose 
a first beginning must be small in this country. 

“The new members are in full sympathy with our 
principles. One Catholic and one Jew are among 
them. I might say two Catholics, but one is a young 
French Abbot who has learned some Russian, has en- 
tered the University, and has, I suppose, plans of his 
OWD WT 

"I came to Odessa only to reconnoitre the ground 
in view of my possibly returning here for a longer 


2 Cards on which those who wished to come into touch with 
the Student Movement might write their name and address. 


Among Russia’s Students 125 


stay in the autumn. I was astonished to find that a 
group of six or seven was already in existence. All 
but one are pious young Baptist youths, as yet green 
and narrow, but capable of widening, I hope, and very 
willing. The exceptional one is an interesting fellow 
of Bulgarian extraction, an old student, formerly an 
atheist and in touch with the radicals, who has grad- 
ually been brought to a real conversion to God and 
has united with the Baptists. Unfortunately, he is 
graduating this spring and is not certain where he 
will be next autumn. If possible he would like to be 
a teacher in this town, but his religion may be an ob- 
stacle. 

“If the next conference? is to be in Constantinople, 
would that not bring you over to Europe earlier and 
give us a chance of seeing you in Kieff, Kharkoff, 
and Odessa? . . . If you come it will need preparing 
the ground and forming local associations before you 
arrive to preserve the results, and lots of prayer to 
open the way for you and counteract the opposition 
of the influential clerical spheres. All things are pos- 
sible with God.” 


Jews, Poles, Russians, Bulgarians—what a motley 
crowd this letter brings before us! In many places 
the work included Germans, Esthonians, Latvians, and 
even Armenians and Caucasians. It required an eye 
alert to the needs of all, familiarity with the charac- 
ter of the different nationalities so as to avoid driving 
students away from the Movement by underrating 
anything which might be essential to their particular 


1 That of the World's Student Christian Federation. 


1126 Baron Paul Nicolay 


national tendencies or church traditions. Baron Nico- 
lay attacked the work with an indefatigable will to 
understand, “himself to learn, before teaching others,” 
and with an untiring.search for the essentials con- 
cealed behind external religious forms. The centre of 
Christianity was for him “not a creed, but a person- 
ality’—the person of Jesus, a living Power with 
whom the souls of men might be brought into touch. 
“Christians are people in whom to a larger or smaller, 
degree dwells the Spirit of Christ,’ was the broad- 
minded definition of Christianity which he once gave. 
The way was not so important. But while Nicolay 
was willing, in compliance with the bases of the World’s 
Student Christian Federation, to admit members of all 
Christian churches and sects into the Movement, he 
never permitted any one church or sect to usurp power 
within it. This position naturally caused dissatisfac- 
tion among reactionary Russian circles, and at times 
within the movements themselves there did arise a 
strong opposition to its non-sectarianism. 

The external resistance was usually formulated in 
refusals to allow Christian student leaders to speak 
because of criticism coming from ecclesiastical sources. 
Thus we read in a letter dated November 27, 1910, 
from Kharkoff to one of the secretaries of the Stu- 
dent Christian Movement in Finland: 


“The ‘peculiar’ director of police in Odessa refused 
to let me hold a meeting there without gaining per- 
mission from the Bishop, who was not disposed to 
grant it as he did not know me and had only read un- 
favourable accounts of me. I left the town and hur- 


Among Russia’s Students 127 


ried to the unsightly town of Nikolajev, from which 
I arrived here a week ago. It is rather trying to meet 
obstacles of that kind, but I now believe that it was 
for the best, and I can now see ‘in what ways the 
Lord performs His work’ as you expressed it. That 
promise has literally been fulfilled. The Lord has 
prepared the way, opened doors, and removed ob- 
stacles, and I have been able to see how He went ahead 
of me performing His work.” 


The “peculiar” director of police in Odessa was 
none other than the notorious General Tolmatscheff, 
whose hostile attitude towards Baron Nicolay was not 
only characteristic of himself but also of a whole 
class of Russian officials in the time of the Czar. He 
explained the refusal by stating that there was a Ger- 
man colony near the city, “therefore the situation is 
serious.” When Baron Nicolay ventured to remark 
that his addresses had not been considered dangerous 
in other places where he had obtained permission to 
speak, the pompous reply was: “What occurs in other 
places does not affect me. But my principle is always 
to go hand in hand with the clergy.” 

If Baron Nicolay felt it “rather trying to meet ob- 
stacles of that kind,” he soon had to learn to submit 
to far more insulting refusals. In 1911 the authori- 
ties at Moscow rejected a plea for permission for Miss 
Rouse to address the women students by reason of 
certain paragraphs in the speech, branding the whole 
address, as “a danger to public morality and a men- 
ace to public peace.” The address was on “The So- 
cial, Moral and Religious Problems of Students.” The 


128 Baron Paul Nicolay 


Bishop of Kieff was more frank in explaining that 
the addresses were not wanted, as the efforts of a for- 
eigner to win students to the cause of religion might 
lead them to an unfortunate comparison with the 
priesthood who had done nothing for them. Several 
years later an influential authority of the church said 
that his only objection to the Student Christian Move- 
ment was that it was led by Baron Nicolay, who was 
a Baptist. In many cases the hostility of the clergy 
was based on the idea that Nicolay was a sectarian 
apostate from the Orthodox Church, but when it was 
made clear that he had been a Lutheran from the very 
first his work was usually regarded with milder eyes. 

But the misunderstandings were not always cleared 
up. The annoyances of the authorities were often 
caused by attacks in the press, many of them founded 
on complete lies. The ecclesiastical papers published 
the most incredible tales about the groups of Christian 
students. They insisted that the men students met for 
Bible study with their hats on and cigarettes in their 
mouths, and that the leaders were illiterate, low-minded 
men. From an entirely different source—radicalism— 
dangerous darts were occasionally hurled at the Move- 
ment, as when one newspaper declared that the “‘well- 
known conservative,’ Baron Nicolay, was arranging 
religious meetings for the purpose of drawing stu- 
dents away from politics—a serious accusation in the 
eyes of the student world—and added that the stu- 
dents “remain more than indifferent to these at- 
tempts!” 

Here it was indeed necessary to utilise “the weap- 
ons of salvation on the right hand and on the left,” 


Among Russia’s Students 129 


and the life of the Russian Student Movement ac- 
quired its own individual character from the militant 
stand it was forced to take against its will, Letters to 
the Finnish Secretary give us a glimpse into the con- 
stant warfare of the groups and their leaders against 
obstacles and dangers within and without. The hard- 
est battle centred around the statutes of the Move- 
ment in St. Petersburg, which were presented in 1912 
to the Minister of the Interior in the hope of securing 
for the Movement a legally secure existence. In Jan- 
uary of 1912 Baron Nicolay writes: 


“The work is most seriously menaced in Moscow 
where the clergy are more powerful than elsewhere. 
We wanted to distribute among the students 10,000 
brief printed notices of Sherwood Eddy’s coming visit, 
but the police would not permit it. It is so irksome 
to be continually uncertain and have to bicker with 
that kind of authority. At times comes the thought 
that we must not worry, for the Lord will surely lead 
the work on to victory even as He led the Israelites. 
out of Egypt with a strong and mighty arm, although 
the outlook seemed so hopeless. But I am very, very 
grateful for the prayers of my friends which sustain 
me.” 


A month later he writes: 

“The outlook on our work here is quite menacing and 
the work may be forbidden at any time, for the Minis- 
try of the Interior now follows absolutely in the tracks 
of the Holy Synod. Allis well in Kieff, and we are get- 
ting as many new members as we can admit, about 25 
men and probably the same number of women. We 


130 Baron Paul Nicolay 


have now made a beginning here." We had hoped we 
might be permitted to speak once at the Polytechnical 
Institute which has 6,000 students. But no answer has 
come from Moscow. ~Our request has been forwarded 
to the Missionaries [“the inquisitors’’ ],” who are almost 
certain to give a negative reply. The situation in the 
group at Moscow is so pitiful that I am especially pray- 
ing for leaders. Help with your intercession.” 


Later in the spring he finds more favourable news to 
impart from Moscow, and continues: 

“We have good news from Kieff, God be praised. 
Mr. Eddy writes that about sixty are seriously taking 
part in Bible groups. Can you imagine it, I have re- 
ceived 890 roubles for our work from an unknown per- 
son! It is as if the sky were beginning to brighten. 
The Minister of the Interior has informed one of my 
friends that he has no intention of hindering our work. 
That is all we need. Perhaps God will now lead us out 
of our distress and let us continue unhindered. This 
has been brought about by the prayers of our friends. 
Maybe we may still hope to see our statutes confirmed. 
Maybe it will even be possible to speak in other cities 
without getting permission from the clergy. What we 
now most need is men who can give their whole time as 
secretaries. Mr. Eddy has promised to procure part 
of the necessary finance, but who is suited for the posi- 
tion? I have written S., but as he has now such a 
bright future ahead can it be expected, or even hoped, 


1In St. Petersburg. papi ; wis 
2 The so-called Missionaries in Russia were often commissioned 
to keep an eye on sects and were notorious for their methods. 


Among Russia’s Students 131 


that he should give it all up in order to devote himself 
to our work? Help us also in this need.” 


On these two important matters, the need of lead- 
ers and the statutes presented to the Minister of the 
Interior, Baron Nicolay writes to Dr. Mott in June 
of the same year:”" 

“Of course the real crucial question is in getting 
Russian leaders, like Miss K. in Kieff; men or women 
who have grown out of our Movement—godly, de- 
voted, energetic, and wise workers. They must be 
God-given, and I daily pray for them. We have two 
more in view. ... One is overscrupulous and the 
other has not yet given his definite answer. Both men 
would be excellent. . . . We have received pressing in- 
vitations from Kazan, and a group promises to form it- 
self there in the autumn. Another ripe field is Dorpat, 
where some still remember you and are very friendly. 
Everywhere the ground is prepared by God, and as our 
main lines and principles are now proved by experience 
and put into form in print, they are more readily under- 
stood in new places. 

“But as the critical moment of confirming or refus- 
ing our statutes by the government draws nigh the op- 
position and attacks of part of the clergy become more 
violent. A very prominent professor in Kieff has 
printed a dastardly, mean, lengthy article against us 
in a leading clerical paper, poisoning the minds against 
us in wide circles. This drew forth a refutation by 
Professor S. (of Kieff), but the clerical paper would 
not accept it, and we had to print it in a secular paper. 


1 Quoted from the original English letter. 


132 Baron Paul Nicolay 


Fancy our opponent ending by saying: ‘If you wish 
to destroy the State and the Church, then for that end 
the Student Christian Movement will be eminently 
useful.’ Professor S.’s lengthy answer is good. I did 
not know that his interest in us had gone far enough 
for him to be willing to commit himself in this way, 
but since he has now done it he has proved to be the 
faithful friend of the Movement. Mme. O. has ren- 
dered us invaluable help. You will find her a very 
superior woman in every respect. She is trusted and 
respected in all official and court circles and has access 
everywhere. She asked for an interview with the 
Minister of Interior, and had a very satisfactory con- 
versation with him. She called on some other minis- 
ters, and very ably defended our cause. The remark 
of one of the officials, who refused our statutes last 
autumn and who was much more frank with her than 
with me, was quite characteristic. ‘If Dr. Mott pre- 
sents the petition it will certainly be refused. If Baron 
Nicolay presents it, it will very likely be refused be- 
cause he is a Protestant. But if you present it, it will 
very likely be confirmed.’ . . .” She told the Overpro- 
curator of the Holy Synod: ‘You know how attached 
I am to my church; but if I had to choose between 
my church and the Student Movement I would choose 
the latter.” She impressed one of our worst enemies, 
an arch-bishop of great influence. And so we handed 
in our petition, with a memorandum to the Minister 
of Interior signed by her. We got another short mem- 
orandum, recommending the usefulness of an Asso- 
ciation like ours, signed by a priest and three profes- 
sors, of whom two are prominent men in the eyes of 


Among Russia’s Students 133 


the government; and now the die is cast, and during 
the summer we will either at last have official permit 
or definite refusal. I need not say how much is at 
stake; you understand it yourself and will certainly re- 
member us in prayer. Now that three professors in St. 
Petersburg have committed themselves for us, we have 
good hope of drawing them into closer contact with 
us. After our autumn leaders’ conference to which 
Professor S. of Kieff has promised to come, we in- 
tend to make use of his presence for a series of open 
meetings for students and begin the term with a strong 
campaign. If we have but one good professor with 
us, the others will follow. 

“You will have heard that we have given up the 
idea of putting Mr. D. into independent work in Dor- 
pat. After a conversation I had with a trusted stu- 
dent of ours who went there with him for a recon- 
noitring tour, I saw I had been too hasty in propos- 
ing this step. Mr. D. may be ready for it in a year or 
two, but not yet. So this next winter he intends to 
concentrate his efforts on work specially among Uni- 
versity students in St. Petersburg, together with N. 
who promises to be a delightful companion. We are 
sorry we have no other man to send over with him 
now to America, but the language is such a draw-back. 
He is a truly devoted Christian, a soft, somewhat emo- 
tional character, no leader, but an excellent helper and 
worker. 

“You will have heard of Mr. A’s. plans for Lesnoi 
of renting the other half of the upper floor for a foyer. 
I think it the very thing to do, and much better than 
launching out on a hostel on a large scale. 


134 Baron Paul Nicolay 


“We are hoping at our autumn leaders’ conference 
to form a National Union, and have sent the proposed 
statutes to Moscow and Kieff. If we succeed, and if 
we work well this coming winter, it may be possible 
we will be accepted into the Federation together— 
maybe—with Bulgaria and Servia?” 


This letter is that of a leader, one might almost say 
of a commander. One can see him studying his bat- 
tle field, all the larger University centres of Russia, 
placing the right man in the right place, gathering 
countless threads into his hand. And how easily one 
might forget the sleepless nights of the commander, 
the inner loneliness and crushing responsibilities of the 
leader, often threatening to become too much for him 
who sent the quiet, clear reports to America. We 
learn of almost daily neuralgic headaches, of a burn- 
ing longing for fellowship with mature Christians of 
his own age, of the old “death anguish” before each 
public address—and we understand the oft repeated 
plea for the intercession of his friends, for the strength 
which is made perfect in weakness. The task was 
growing and the opportunities multiplying; yet the 
fight was still far from over. In a letter to Helsing- 
fors dated from Monrepos, October 11, 1912, we read 
of victories won and of new hopes. 


“, .. Thursday the 8th I had to speak, and I had 
seldom found it so hard nor felt as despondent and 
depressed. But as I began to speak I was carried 
through safely, borne by the arms of prayer, and all 
went well, thanks to God. To-morrow is an impor- 


Among Russia’s Students 135 


tant day. Our case (our statutes) is then to be de- 
cided upon by the Minister of the Interior. Just think, 
here at the conference they came to a unanimous reso- 
lution to form a Student Christian Movement for the 
whole of Russia! It is a great joy to me. In a few 
hours I am leaving for St. Petersburg with a deep 
sense of gratitude to God. I have seen that the field 
which the Lord in His mercy has called on me to plant 
has begun to sprout, that other workers are willing 
to devote their lives to it, and that the Lord has per- 
mitted the conference to end with rich blessing. I 
have seen more clearly than ever before that it is far 
better to lose one’s life for others than to find one’s 
life. The egotistical life tries so often to dominate me 
again and draw me away from a life of service. But 
may God grant me strength never to cease to seek His 
Kingdom first.” 


Soon it became evident that the matter of the stat- 
utes would not be solved as quickly as had been hoped. 
The Holy Synod at a meeting presided over by the 
Metropolitan of Moscow, an enemy of the Student 
Movement, drew up an official resolution against the 
recognition of the Movement—“One way of binding 
the hands of the Ministry of the Interior,” as Paul 
Nicolay put it. Fresh attacks by the clerical press fol- 
lowed. Their one solace was that Mme. O. later suc- 
ceeded in persuading the Minister of the Interior to 
promise that no obstacles should be laid in the way of 
the work, for it had even been urged, at the meeting of 
the Holy Synod, that the group be broken up and the 
matter called to the attention of the Czar. In March 


136 Baron Paul Nicolay 


of 1913 Baron Nicolay writes to Dr. Mott that the 
Statutes are permanently buried in the Ministry of 
the Interior. And in this their grave they remained at 
rest until December, 1917, when their ratification was 
followed by the beautiful but short-lived promise of 
free and legally sanctioned activity. 

But through all these conditions the work was car- 
ried on. In a letter to Dr. Mott dated October, 
1913, Baron Nicolay rejoices over a successful con- 
ference of leaders. A spirit of peace and harmony 
had prevailed, practical matters had been discussed 
to advantage—which had not always been the case— ~ 
and the delegates who had been in America showed 
that they had been benefited by what they had 
learned there. Baron Nicolay had also only words 
of praise for his young Russian assistants, N., and 
especially M., who for the sake of the work had given 
up his good position in the State school and torn him- 
self away from a town where he was universally loved 
and respected, “a good speaker and a Nathanael in 
whom there is no guile, a truly converted soul.” It is 
of great significance that this man remained a mem- 
ber of the Greek Orthodox Church. 

The professors now began to give more active as- 
sistance. The entire year immediately preceding the 
World War becomes a time of revivals among Rus- 
sian students. It is true that in Dorpat and Riga 
there was a falling away, but in the purely Russian 
cities, especially Moscow and Kieff, the situation is 
very different. In Kieff the number of Bible groups 
has increased, and in Moscow the numbers crowding 


Among Russia’s Students Toy, 


to the Sunday meetings in the two medium sized rooms 
of the Movement increase to 270, and as the rooms 
are almost entirely lacking in ventilation the atmos- 
phere becomes so unbearably close that “if not at least 
four or five are carried out in a faint the programme 
is not considered complete.” It is about a meeting 
in Moscow—this time in a large hall as there were 
five hundred present—that Baron Nicolay writes to 
the Finnish Secretary: “There was something in the 
air that bore me up, made the audience attentive, and 
}.d 60 men and 75 women students to give their ad- 
» cesses, showing their desire to be invited to our meet- 
ings. I can only explain this as an outcome of the 
Day of Prayer, when thousands of prayers through- 
out the world, including yours and those of the dear 
friends in Helsingfors, interceded for poor, dark Rus- 
sia. Mott was right when he suggested making use 
of the days of prayer and the ensuing days for active 
meetings. In St. Petersburg also a large number gath- 
ered on the Day of Prayer for Students to hear M.’s 
address, and the results were good.” 

Thousands of prayers went up from the student 
world for “poor, dark Russia,” helping hands were 
stretched forth from many a place to her youth in 
their struggle for a religious and moral awakening, 
and the Russian Student Christian Movement began 
in spite of the “non possumus” of the government to 
be felt as a factor in the common conscience of the 
student world. When the war broke out this was the 
situation, and the result of the work which Paul Nico- 
lay in fear and trembling had undertaken fifteen years 
before. 


138 Baron Paul Nicolay 


We have been following the rapid development and 
growth of the Student Christian Movement under the 
leadership of Paul Nicolay. But so far only the ex- 
ternal contours of the Movement have been shown, 
only the attempts at organisation, the struggle for 
existence and the mastery over new fields of labour pre- 
sented. Is the inner worth of this work comparable to 
the relatively large external apparatus? Was the cause 
itself worthy of the pain it cost? This question invol- 
untarily arises in the mind of him who has followed 
along in the battle. Let us therefore recall the pur- 
pose for which the Movement was founded, what its 
leaders and patrons hoped to accomplish through it. 
Their work was to wage war against the worst ene- 
mies of the Russian student—loneliness and moral un- 
certainty. They wanted to transform as many as pos- 
sible of them into strong and happy people, able and 
willing to serve their oppressed and suffering country- 
men in a positive and creative way. They desired 
above all, in spite of the theories and suppositions of 
the time, to bring them to the one and only reality, 
the finding of their soul. Had the goal been reached? 
Miss Marie Bréchet replied to this question at Paul 
Nicolay’s grave with the following words: 


“Through him hundreds of despairing, lost and seek- 
ing souls have discovered the way to a living faith in 
God. They have been changed into happy people who 
have found their ideal and the power to lead a better 
life. Baron Nicolay has ushered in a new epoch into 
the religious life of Russia. Through the Movement 
Russia has obtained Christian teachers, able to give to 


Among Russia’s Students 139 


the youth answers to “the forbidden questions,” phy- 
sicians, not powerless in face of soul suffering, edu- 
cated workers in various fields, who have learned loy- 
ally and honestly to perform their duty.” 


In the discussion of the external growth of the 
Movement we have now and then caught a glimpse of 
some young person standing on the verge of destruc- 
tion when the saving message reached him. But to 
bring a message was not the only task of the Student 
Movement; it aimed to offer the youth a steadying 
influence, the warmth of a home, opportunities for de- 
velopment. It aimed to educate them through what 
some one has called the “sacrament of fellowship.” 
All this became part of the daily task of the Move- 
ment, at the centre of whose life—most especially in 
St. Petersburg—stood that man who had said, even in 
the early years of the Movement, that he was "too old, 
too weak, too far removed from the students’’—Pavel 
Nikolajevitsch, the mere mention of whose name would 
light up the face of a member of the Movement. 

By listening to the conversation of St. Petersburg 
students about their Christian Movement—‘“krusjok” 
(the circle) as they call it, one is impressed by its 
being to them much more than is usually true of a 
Movement—a home, a bright spot in their existence. 
“Do you remember the party we had one spring, the 
flowers, the singing? How hard it was to leave, for 
there was resurrection in the air.” They have so many 
mutual reminiscences—Bible Study in the tiny rooms 
of the student members, summer conferences, picnics, 
and even the work itself with the exciting campaigns 


140 Baron Paul Nicolay 


during the autumn in the institutions to which they 
belonged, and at the close of semesters the planning 
for work in the home towns to which they were re- 
turning. They know that they have “krusjok” to 
thank for much of what they are—perhaps for all. 
And in the course of the conversation you are sure to 
hear, “And do you remember Pavel Nikolajevitsch— 
that time, and that?” 

The students recall how he usually began the meet- 
ings, with his quiet and friendly greeting to one and 
another as they arrived, inquiring about their health 
and their work, and encouraging the discouraged by a 
loving and understanding word, or with a joke con- 
taining a serious meaning. "Ye, Pharaoh’s lean cat- 
tle,” he says to those who only “swallow” talks and 
addresses and emotions, but never grow nor are willing 
to share with others. And the students laugh genially. 
They do not take offence, not even when the repri- 
mand comes in a sharper form, as it occasionally does, 
If he were absent from a meeting it seemed empty 
without him, even if he had not been scheduled to 
speak. And how great was not his worth in discus- 
sions on the practical side of organization, when they 
became too excited or irritated and when in their eag- 
erness, in a truly Russian way, they wandered from 
the point. His gentle but clear voice would then be 
raised to call them back to the main and the really im- 
portant theme, and even the temperate, almost monot- 
onous tones, had a beneficial effect on such occasions. 
But when he rose to give a devotional address his 
words, in spite of their completely unadorned simplic- 
ity, often penetrated deeper than those of others, not 


Among Russia’s Students 141 


setting the emotions into vibration but stimulating the 
conscience and arousing the will. 

And every one remembers Baron Nicolay at the Con- 
ferences—that autumn evening, for instance, when 
about ninety students got off the train at Wiborg Sta- 
tion, and the first thing they saw on the platform was 
Pavel Nikolajevitsch's familiar face, and the grey cap 
waved in welcome. It was he who saw them all on 
the local train for the station near Monrepos, he who 
had provided that on their arrival they should be Sup- 
plied with lanterns, and he who led the gay procession 
to the villas where they were to stay. His love and his 
thoughtfulness were revealed in every detail and in all 
the arrangements. And the days of the Conference 
were beneficial, not only spiritually, but they were also 
wonderful days of rest, when overworked students 
grown pallid with the unhealthy life of the big city 
might wander about in the woods, inhaling with pleas- 
ure the fresh scent of the pines, later to do credit 
with large appetites to the bountiful meals—flow- 
ing with milk if not with honey—where they might 
really eat until they were satisfied. On the walks 
Baron Nicolay would arm himself with fir cones 
which he later, with true aim, showered upon his young 
guests, who were not slow to retaliate. One of the 
days of the conference was christened “Sergej” day, 
when the three delegates, Sergej by name, were awak- 
ened in the morning by Pavel Nikolajevitsch present- 
ing each with a carnation stuck into a fir cone with a 
comically ceremonious speech. They would never 
again see a fir cone or a carnation without recalling 
the happy incident. 


142 Baron Paul Nicolay 


But it was not only at meetings and conferences that 
Baron Nicolay met students. During the long semes- 
ters in St. Petersburg he lived with them in their daily 
life, sharing in their sorrows and hardships. They came 
to him in times of temptation and doubt, and he would 
listen to their confused youthful effusions by the hour, 
never begrudging them a time of much needed rest. 
These interviews were often a real trial to him who 
liked clear cut lines in everything and was by no means 
impulsive, but he never avoided them, knowing that 
in this respect also he was called to bear the burdens 
of others. Then he would often go to see students in 
their rooms, never letting long distances or steep steps 
hinder him in this. He tells of how he once suddenly 
had the inspiration to call on a certain student, and 
how he found him in a shattered condition, and per- 
suaded him to consecrate himself wholly to God. And 
this case is certainly only one of many similar ones. 

Baron Nicolay kept pace with the development of the 
- members of the group, sought to hinder their throwing 
themselves into the life of the Movement with an en- 
thusiasm which might cause their studies to suffer, or 
from isolating themselves too much in their studies— 
two extremes which were always having to be bal- 
anced. He sought to instil in them respect for quiet, 
regular work and the significance of self-discipline. 
Characteristic of the way he thus acquired of treating 
overexcited young people is the story of a student who 
came to him with the information that he would have 
to leave the Movement as he had lost his faith. Baron 
Nicolay looked at him and realised that what he had 
lost was not his faith, but "faith in his faith.” So he 


Among Russia’s Students 143 


entirely ignored the statement, and simply asked the 
amazed young man to mail some parcels of Movement 
literature and do a couple of other errands. The youth 
departed; and never again did he repeat his intention 
of leaving the Movement. Baron Nicolay was very 
unlike the lively, emotional southerners, but that in it- 
self helped make intercourse with him helpful to them, 
and his words and whole nature acted on them like a 
cool, refreshing douche. Yet no one could doubt that 
fundamentally he felt more keenly than most of them 
for the individual members and for the common cause. 

Not in the spiritual alone, but also in purely practical 
matters did Baron Nicolay become a stay to his stu- 
dents. It was he who superintended the furnishing 
of the room for meetings—the Movement having for 
a long time been housed in his own rooms—and in so 
doing he attended to the smallest details. Former mem- 
bers of the Movement tell how he ordered for the 
room in the new building a sofa, which was to be broad 
enough that in case of need—and such was often the 
case—two students might be able to spend the night on 
it. Men came to him with all their troubles. One day 
a student who was ill was brought to the Movement 
headquarters by his friends who did not feel like leav- 
ing him alone in his miserably cold room. He was 
very ill, and it was Paul Nicolay who now took him in 
charge. It was he who sent for a doctor, called an 
automobile, and brought him straight to the hospital. 

Another student, a Christian medical, who had been 
active in the work of the Movement, was for a long 
time ill in a hospital in St. Petersburg. He came from 
the South and could not stand the cold climate, but was 


144 Baron Paul Nicolay 


attacked by an ailment which finally developed into 
rapid consumption. As he now lay in the hospital, far 
from his own people, it was ‘Pavel Nikolajevitsch,” 
the cheery and comforting friend, who came to see him 
every day. “His illness is a great grief to me,” wrote 
Nicolay in a letter to Finland, and he did not exag- 
gerate. “After his death we saw Pavel Nikolajevitsch 
one day, sad and dejected, accompanying his young 
friend in bitterly cold weather and on foot to his eternal 
resting place in a distant cemetery,” writes Miss Marie 
Bréchet. And again we must remember that the young 
Caucasian was by no means the only one who in the 
hour of pain and death itself had this faithful, fatherly 
comforter by his side. 

But there was especially one way of helping the 
young people he loved which seemed most effective to 
Baron Nicolay, and which he never neglected. He had 
learned to appreciate what an English Christian once 
said, that when it is useless to talk to a person it may 
be a great help to talk about him to God. He prayed 
a great deal for his students, and often urged his 
friends to pray for them. Letters already quoted have 
shown how frequently he asked for intercession for 
the whole Movement, but there are also often requests 
for individual members in his letters. In September, 
1910, he writes as follows to the Secretary of the Fin- 
nish Movement in Helsingfors: 


“One of our most promising young men writes that 
he must resign from the Movement as he is not fit for 
it. Evidently his feet must have slipped during the 
summer. I am praying God to bring him back. An 


Among Russia’s Students 145 


eager young student came and promised to join a 
Bible group. He has been completely confused by all 
kinds of philosophy, and is also worried about his 
health, as he thinks he is threatened with consumption. 
If only the Spirit of God might take possession of him 
so that our friendship may not be reduced, as often 
happens, to nothing of spiritual value. Pray for him.” 

Another time he writes: “Poor S.* I have not yet 
seen him, but have learned that he has turned away 
from God and us, and we must now seek him by a de- 
tour, by way of heaven. Help us with him.” 

And later he writes: "Poor Z. has joined a Bible 
group, but one which is so far from the centre of the 
city, about an hour’s journey, and a group which is 
weak and without a proper leader. Let us remember 
that prayer is not only one important way of further- 
ing God’s Kingdom, but the most important. If only 
unhappy Z. might get what he is looking for. About 
S., I heard that he came to see me to-day, and that he 
longs for Christian fellowship again as he finds his 
life so empty. God be praised. This should encourage 
us to continue in prayer.” 


There was one group among the students whom 
Baron Nicolay felt to be in greater need of spiritual 
help than others—those who were or might become 
leaders. He often bemoaned the lack of personalities 
for leadership in Russia. Once he wrote as follows: 
“The young people themselves are so devoid of energy 
and practical sense that they resemble freight cars 
without an engine.” Orators, eager workers, and even 


1The young seeker before mentioned. 


146 Baron Paul Nicolay 


geniuses could be found, but very few with the talent 
for organisation and the ability both to command and 
subordinate themselves—a requisite for a man or 
woman in a position of responsibility. A Dane has 
told how, during a visit to the group at Moscow, he 
became attached to a fine young man with an animated 
and intelligent expression and a most attractive appear- 
ance. He told Baron Nicolay that he thought he would 
in time become a leader in the Movement. “Hardly,” 
was the brief reply; “he is a genius, and I do not be- 
lieve in geniuses.” These words no doubt reflected a 
bitter experience. Leaders, true leaders, could not be 
selected by human calculation, they must be given from 
above, and that was why he prayed, as his letters show, 
both about and for them. 

The members of the Movement often realised that 
they caused Baron Nicolay concern. Sometimes they 
did not rightly construe his purposes, and occasionally, 
in spite of his tact and desire to be just, he might judge 
them too severely, or his ways might repel some young 
person of a distinctly esthetic or philosophical ten- 
dency or unusually sensitive nature. But as a rule stu- 
dents were impressed by the steadfast good-will con- 
cealed behind the severity, and willingly took the blame 
for all misunderstandings. One of them said that 
what amazed him most was Pavel Nikolajevitsch’s per- 
petual patience. He marvelled in many a meeting 
at his not “simply losing his temper with the students 
and leaving the meeting.” 

But Paul Nicolay never left the meetings, neither 
did he abandon the Movement because of occasional 
jars. For he never went his way, but the Master’s. 


Among Russia’s Students 147 


He became to the Russian students an example of loy- 
alty and perseverance. Long after their student days 
were over and they had gone out into the world—scat- 
tered to countless country districts or plunged into the 
human sea of the larger cities—they retained their im- 
pression of him and thought of him as a “ray of light 
which had fallen across their path.” Many came back 
to him for advice and help even in later years, and 
were always welcomed with joy and warmth. And he 
followed them when far away with his strong and 
ceaseless intercession. 

When the great, and at first incredible and incom- 
prehensible, reality of the World War broke into the 
life of the Russian Student Movement, it was im- 
possible to tell whether it was to be favourable or harm- 
ful to the Movement. But it was evident to all that it 
would have to undergo a great change. One obstacle 
to the work would certainly be the rising spirit of na- 
tionalism. 


On September 28, 1914, Baron Nicolay wrote Dr. 
Mott from St. Petersburg: * “Our work suffers greatly 
from this dreadful war. We can hold no public meet- 
ings and are reduced to members’ meetings in a quiet 
way, for prayer and devotional purposes. In Kieff, 
Moscow, and here the women are sewing for the 
wounded and we are trying to do something in the 
way of visiting the wounded, giving Scripture portions 
and helping as we may. 

“This war is like a constant nightmare, but God is 
thereby shaking the nations as never before since 


1 Quoted from the original English letter. 


148 Baron Paul Nicolay 


the days of Napoleon, and will no doubt make it serve 
His cause. But what about Missions? Should the 
days of mission work be ended and this be the begin- 
ning of God’s judgments issuing in Christ’s return? 
The social upheavals after this war will be worse 
than the war itself, I fancy. 

“What would you advise our members to do as 
Jong as this war lasts? Prayer-meetings? Devotional 
meetings? Your advice would be important. .. . 

"How I pine to see men of intelligence and spirit and 
energy guide this poor Movement. I feel myself get- 
ting old and am asking God to raise up the right men, 
especially (1) a good secretary for St. Petersburg and 
(2) a good General Secretary. God grant that Sw. 
and maybe Sc. may return after the war to this coun- 
try. Russians are so flabby—sometimes it’s enough 
to make you despair. 

“Fancy the B. & F. Bible Society here with no 
funds for the distribution of Scriptures and the soldiers 
so eager to have some. We'll do what we can, but it 
won't suffice.” | 


November 17th he wrote a few lines about the 
Union in St. Petersburg which was going down hill 
while those in Moscow and Kieff were doing well, and 
added: * 

“This is just the weak point with the men. When 
I was always living in St. Petersburg and could devote 
all my time and thought to the work here, a nucleus 
grew around me. When I began to visit other towns, 
I always found that during a six weeks’ absence the 
work had gone down. 


1 Quoted from the original English letter to Dr. Mott. 


Among Russia’s Students 149 


“T am sad to think that all these years of work have 
brought about so little results, that we have not even 
reached the fringe of the student world of Russia, 
and that if I were to fail now before we are legalised 
the work may crumble to pieces in some parts at least. 
As long as the present wind blows we cannot hope 
to be officially recognised, and, therefore, no bequests 
to the work can be made which would safeguard its 
future financially, and no binding order can be intro- 
duced for our organisation. 

“T am also sorry to think that if J were more effi- 
cient, had more strength, more energy, and organising 
capacity, things would be better off than they are; and 
I can’t understand why God does not give us a real na- 
tional secretary. I am getting old and am sometimes 
getting weary and pine for a younger head to take the 
work in tow. 

"I would be only too glad for a man like Sw., but 
if the Russians object to having a foreign leader, what 
is to be done? 

"I know you have enough weights of your own to 
bear, and if I mention this it is only that you should 
know the inside. If we were to be organised and legal- 
ised like the Mayak, it would mean for us to sell our re- 
ligious freedom and our high principles of interna- 
tionalism and interdenominationalism.” 


A year later Baron Nicolay has a good report to give 
of the work in Moscow where he has just been. “The 
room where the meetings are held has been improved, 
electric light and electrical ventilators have been in- 
stalled, so that cases of fainting from lack of air have 
become a thing of the ‘happy past.’ M. is holding 


150 Baron Paul Nicolay 


meetings in the largest hall of the city, announcements 
on a large scale being possible and the crowds and 
police on friendly terms. Both men and women have 
shown more independence than in St. Petersburg. 
When the missionaries (spies) come they are permitted 
to remain through the meeting so as to be convinced in 
their own minds that nothing dangerous is being perpe- 
trated. Recently a comical occurrence took place. A 
priest, who had never been to these meetings before, 
came to Miss S. and good-naturedly told her that he 
had been sent by a spy who could not decide whether 
or no the students were sectarians.” 


In St. Petersburg the work among the kursistki went 
well, and they flooded the hall for the joint meet- 
ings “like a wave.” Those taking advanced courses 
had also formed a separate little Union working on 
their own initiative. The clergy began to be more 
sympathetic with the work.* “The meetings of a group 
at Priest J.’s continue once a week, and no harm is 
being done. Some find these meetings rather watery— 
some like them. Other priests are beginning to show 
some interest.” The men students were the hardest 
to reach; not only the "weak and religious,” but also 
the stronger ones. Baron Nicolay expresses his belief 
that they can not be reached through the printed page, 
but only through teaching of the right kind. ‘“Other- 
wise they can be interested, but won’t be impressed.” 

In the same letter we read: “You will be happy to 
hear that enterprising Miss T., finding the work closed 
in Kieff, is on the point of making a raid on Kazan 


1 Quoted from the original English letter. 


Among Russia’s Students 151 


and Saratoff. In the former town we have a former 
member of ours who is willing to conduct Bible 
classes, and in the latter town a number of Kieff 
students (and members, too) have settled and invited 
Miss K. to come. The University of Kieff has, you 
know, been evacuated to Saratoff. 

“Every day we are expecting the orders calling the 
students for military service, beginning by the young- 
est classes. This will, of course, sadly cripple our work 
and oblige us to keep more in touch with our comrades 
at the front. Possibly the young students will first 
have to pass through some months of training to be 
made officers.” 


It is evident from this quotation that the war itself 
became a cause for the Student Christian Movement’s 
penetrating deeper than ever before into the heart of 
Russia. Later it also became clear that the seeds which 
were carried by the storm winds to the Eastern parts 
of the country fell on good ground and bore fruit, in 
a time in which it seemed as if the whole planting was 
doomed to be uprooted. It is interesting to see how in 
a letter to one of his English friends in December, 
1916, Baron Nicolay writes of this war, which became 
more and more of a hidden power whose activities it 
was impossible to follow. The letter also reveals much 
of the depth of the inner life of the writer at this criti- 
cal time: * 


“My dear friend, Mr. Sloan: It was a real joy to re- 
ceive your very kind lines a couple of days ago, and 
I felt quite touched at your remembering me as you 

1 Quoted from the original English letter. 


152 Baron Paul Nicolay 


do. In the way of Christian fellowship with older 
Christians I have been cut off from this blessing for a 
long while, and so it warms my heart to remember the 
days spent with you in days gone by. What a joy it 
would be to meet you once again on this earth after all 
we are living through. 

“I feel that with all the darkness around us, and 
maybe before us, we are to push on, doing our duty 
as we see it without looking far ahead or getting anx- 
ious, certain as it is to the eye of faith that God is 
working out His plans ‘deep in unfathomable mines of 
never-failing skill” God's Kingdom must gain by all 
that is going on. Great changes will take place which 
will open up new possibilities for the Kingdom of God, 
and one already now sees in contrast to a flood of 
wickedness of every kind overflowing its banks, a 
deepening of hunger for spiritual things in other circles. 

“Many students are called for military service, and 
few are left. But among the women students the in- 
terest and the work are spreading as never before, into 
new places too. And there is much less arguing about 
Christianity and much more desire for positive truth 
than hitherto. In this I am much encouraged. Many 
students will in the ordeal of war become deepened 
and prepared for the Gospel’s message. Years spent in 
captivity must, if not spoil, then reform many a man.” 


Like many others Baron Nicolay had, during the 
third year of the war, the feeling that since the night 
was so dark the dawn must be near. The following 
year brought great events and changes—but, instead of 
the expected peace, a revolution followed by new hor- 


Among Russia’s Students 153 


rors. This revolution was greeted by Baron Nicolay 
with as little enthusiasm as that of the year 1905. He 
was, as we know, no friend of violent eruptions and 
could plainly see the evil forces in this movement. But 
the development of the student work was not hindered; 
on the contrary, in many ways it seemed that new 
opportunities were being opened up for it. On May 
4, 1917, Baron Nicolay wrote to an English friend: * 


éé 


... I feel really sincerely grateful to those who 
have been remembering me in prayer, and wish— 
thanking them most heartily—to say we have hitherto 
lacked nothing, and all has developed infinitely better 
than might have been expected. The whole situation 
in this country is a very delicate one, but He ‘who 
saved’ and ‘still saves’ will, we trust, still save and 
help. This thought has been a help to me, that if 
Christ orders us not to be anxious, it can only be on 
the ground that He means to take care. If He does 
not we must, if we may not He must. Either He or 
we. 

“Immense changes have taken place. Can you fancy 
Russia with complete liberty of conscience, and hold- 
ing meetings? Our.students have on certain days 
been going through the streets selling New Testaments, 
and giving away 8,ooo short Christian pamphlets 
which were most eagerly accepted. . . . At present the 
inner situation is very delicate and we can’t foresee 
how it will unroll, but God will surely provide. All 
will be for the best of His Kingdom.” 


At this time, in spite of the many obstacles, the out- 
1 Quoted from the original English letter. 


154 Baron Paul Nicolay 


look seemed hopeful. The Movement in Petrograd 
was reaching new institutions, the students in Moscow 
were succeeding in raising money. In a letter to Dr. 
Mott written in December we read of the things Baron 
Nicolay has to rejoice over:+ “One is that on Decem- 
ber third the statutes of our Petrograd Association have 
at last been confirmed, and we are a legally recognised 
organisation after eight or nine years’ struggling and 
waiting. Those of Moscow have not yet been con- 
firmed on account of narrow formalism on the part of 
the local court. We will, however, gain the point in 
no distant future, and then we will be entitled to form 
a recognised federation for Russia. 

“We are at a very low ebb at present, most of the 
students being in the army, and of the remaining very 
few caring to remain in university towns on account 
of the price of living and other reasons. When the 
army will be disbanded the students will be among the 
first to be let off, but at present studying is impossible. 

“One bright spot on the dark picture is the develop- 
ment of a new centre in Odessa. In some places meet- 
ings have been held in schools, a thing impossible be- 
fore. Our literature is being eagerly bought. 

“I hope we will get your call for the Day of Prayer 
in good time. Prayer will be like a breath of ozone in 
a stifling atmosphere.” 


The atmosphere in Russia was indeed stifling. So 
little was known about the morrow, work was done as 
if at random, and only “with trembling” dared one 
rejoice over new victories won by the Movement. 
Gradually the prospects grew less bright while the ob- 


1 Quoted from the original English letter. 


Among Russia’s Students 155 


stacles began to loom larger. But even in the beginning 
of 1918 did Baron Nicolay keep his gaze fixed ahead 
in confidence that the work to which he had been 
called should not be destroyed. 

“Our work has not been extinguished in Russia,” 
he writes in February to Dr. Mott... . “It is too 
soon to decide anything about your coming to Russia 
next autumn. As yet travelling is next to impossible, 
and the students are scattered. Yet I trust God will 
bring you back to us some day and that we will have 
glorious times yet.” 

The last letter to Dr. Mott, in which mention is 
made of the Russian Movement, is dated as late as 
September 29, 1919—a week before Paul Nicolay’s 
death. It sounds like the commander’s last look over 
the death-strewn battle ground, the husbandman’s last 
wandering through his devastated fields; and yet we 
are conscious throughout that it was not written by one 
“who has lost all hope.” We quote it in entirety: * 


“Dear Dr. Mott: Yesterday, Sept. 28th, I received 
two letters from you, dated September 1, and Septem- 
ber 3, 1919, containing a request for information con- 
cerning the new Directory, and the usual string of 
questions sent annually to the Federation Movements. 

“The present state of anarchy in Russia makes all 
names and addresses completely unreliable. I do not 
know if our headquarters in Petrograd (B. Konuschen- 
naja 8, Lodg. 14) are still existent, or if they have 
been sacked by the Bolsheviks. There have been so 
many general massacres in Kieff that I do not know if 
Prof. S., Mme. O., and Miss K., are alive or dead. 


1 Quoted from the original English letter. 


156 Baron Paul Nicolay 


Nor have I news from Miss S. Miss Bréchet is in Fin- 
land, near Mustamaki Station, and M. is teaching and 
doing evangelistic work in the town of Samara on 
the Volga. Mr. G. has, I believe, returned to America. 

“I suppose you will put a notice in the Directory 
somewhat like this: ‘Owing to the conditions of an- 
archy still reigning in Russia, no addresses can be 
printed this year.’ ” 

“Concerning the activity of our associations, no an- 
swer to the given questions can be sent. When your 
very life is in danger the activity of an association, as 
such, must temporarily cease. There can be no ques- 
tion of ‘publication work,’ ‘conferences,’ ‘training 
leaders,’ etc. But we know that a religious awakening 
is taking place in several provinces in Russia, that our 
scattered members are in several towns actively holding 
meetings which are overcrowded, and that the atti- 
tude of the educated classes and of the Russian clergy 
has completely changed and has become most favour- 
ably disposed. Great openings are likely in those cen- 
tres whence the Bolsheviks will have been expelled. 

“You see, dear Mr. Mott, it’s only poor stuff I can 
communicate this year, but it is darkest before dawn, 
and Christ’s Kingdom is a Kingdom which cannot 
be destroyed. Dan. 7:14.” 


This was the last which the founder of the Russian 
Student Movement wrote about his darling—the child 
of his sorrows—to this great leader of the World 
Federation. Simply and positively he lays before him 
facts which might have brought many to despair, with- 
out one word of complaint, without one thought for 


Among Russia’s Students By, 


himself. It looked as if the battle waged for ten years 
would result in very little. The structure newly erected 
seemed about to crumble. Health, strength, possible 
personal gains were sacrificed for a cause whose future 
was veiled by the dense darkness of complete uncer- 
tainty. Of all this Paul Nicolay said never a word. 
He knew that the grain of wheat must fall into the 
ground and die if it shall bring forth fruit. It is easy 
to understand what was behind his quiet, manly trust 
when we recall some words once uttered by him in an 
address on partaking in the sufferings of Christ: 

“Can it be that we, when one day we shall stand on 
the brink of eternity and look back over our lives, will 
in any way regret what we have had the privilege of 
suffering for His sake, but will not these very remem- 
brances be the most precious of any in our lives, our 
greatest honour and praise? The Lord will see that 
our affliction, which is short and easy, shall prepare for 
us an eternal measure of glory.” 

When Paul Nicolay wrote his last letter to Dr. Mott 
he stood on the brink of eternity. We who have been 
permitted to survive him know that the grain of wheat 
has borne fruit, that his work was not destroyed. The 
Russian Student Christian Movement continues to 
exist in starving Russian cities and towns, behind the 
walls of Russian prisons, and in all places in Europe 
where Russian student communities may be found. 
Paul Nicolay’s disciples and fellow-workers remain at 
their posts among their suffering countrymen, ready 
to serve and to help, and when the night is darkest they 
turn their gaze to where his was directed at the last— 
towards the dawning of the day. 


CHAPTER VI 
In Work for the World’s Student Christian 


Federation 


ATS HOSE who were present at the conference of 

the World’s Student Christian Federation in 
1900 will surely recall a slim man with deep, dark 
eyes, who had little to say at the discussions, but whose 
words whether spoken in public or private conversa- 
tion left a deep impression of spirituality and earnest- 
ness.” 

With these words Dr. Karl Fries begins an article 
in memory of Paul Nicolay in the “Student World,” 
the organ of the World’s Student Christian Federa- 
tion. 

Baron Nicolay’s work was, as we know, not limited 
to those countries—Russia and Finland—where were 
his homes. He represented these countries at many 
international student conferences, where he took his 
place among the speakers and was one of the most 
prominent men in the work itself in spite of his quiet, 
retiring nature; and great was the loss when he was 
taken from them. “Few leaders of the World’s 
Student Christian Federation were more loved and 
respected than he,” writes one of his friends and co- 
workers. He was outstanding among many more 
brilliantly intellectual and oratorically gifted men, as 


a man who always pointed inward, always called to 
158 


In Work for Student Federation 159 


mind that room with the closed door to which Christ 
referred His disciples, as the source of power. And his 
unpretentiousness, his features marked by physical suf- 
fering and the struggles of a soul became one, who 
among many nations, should represent the work of a 
sorely tried and suppressed people. 

Asarule, Baron Nicolay enjoyed the World Federa- 
tion conferences where he met many congenial people. 
It was at these meetings that his friendship with Dr. 
Mott and Dr. Fries grew and was strengthened, and it 
was here also he met the man who was to hold one of 
the foremost places in his circle of friends—the 
American, Mr. Robert Wilder. Mr. Wilder, who had 
married a Norwegian, had built a home in Norway, 
and after he had become acquainted with Baron 
Nicolay the latter hardly ever travelled abroad without 
also visiting his friend in Veldre. Here he spent many 
happy days, rejoicing in the complete sympathy he 
found, in the marvellous beauty of nature, and in the 
pure air which became a veritable elixir of life to him, 
and which he greatly missed during the last years of 
his life, when the World War made all foreign travel 
impossible. But not even in Veldre did he give up his 
work, translating while here many pamphlets into 
Russian and writing Bible studies of his own. And 
when he was asked to speak to some larger or smaller 
group he courageously overcame his reluctance to com- 
ply with such a request, and was ready here also in his 
time of rest to share his inner riches. 

Mr. Wilder has given a little picture, which was im- 
pressed upon his memory, of Baron Nicolay standing on 
the lawn by his friend’s house and speaking to a group 


160 Baron Paul Nicolay 


of older and younger men of the student world of Eng- 
land, America, Norway and Sweden. “His theme is 
the prophet Elijah; young and old alike are held 
spellbound by the pictures his words create. When he 
has finished, an Oxford graduate remarks: ‘I have 
never known that there was so much of interest in the 
Old Testament. He makes these prophets live.” 
Thus the experiences gathered in the quiet “morning 
watches” at Monrepos and St. Petersburg could be 
brought to members of the world’s greatest and most 
religiously cultured nations, teaching them something: 
new and worth while—simply because they were genu- 
ine. 

Baron Nicolay’s ability to work wherever he might 
be was to a great extent due to his extensive knowledge 
of languages, a fact which has already been referred to. 
He was very familiar with German and French; Eng- 
lish became his key not only to Great Britain but also 
to the great student masses in countries outside of 
Europe, Swedish to those of Scandinavia, and Russian 
to the Slavic world. In all these languages he could not 
only read a report, but also give a religious or devo- 
tional address. As he was never in need of an inter- 
preter his personality could be fully felt wherever he 
spoke. He could at the conferences, without difficulty, 
converse with any of the delegates, which naturally 
meant his both giving and receiving more at these con- 
ferences than many others could. Those of his ad- 
dresses which he saw fit to publish he usually had 
translated into several languages, and he himself read 
proof for them. One of these addresses, referred to 
in another chapter, was “God Incarnate’ (“Can an 





AT LAKE MOHONK 


In the foreground left to right, Mr. Wilder, 
3aron Nicolay, Dr. Mott, and Dr. Ibuka 









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In Work for Student Federation 161 


Educated, Thinking Man Believe in the Divinity of 
Jesus Christ?’’), which was published in at least four 
languages (Russian, Swedish, Finnish, and English), 
and another which he delivered at the conference of the 
Federation in Oxford in 1909, “Participating in the 
Sufferings of Christ’”—‘a theme,’ says Dr. Fries, 
“that he was especially suited to speak on.” One must 
rejoice to know that words such as these, which formed 
the nucleus of the addresses, could reach the Christian 
students of many lands. They make a deep impression 
wherever they are read, but how much more impressive 
must they not have been when first spoken by a man 
who had proven their reality. 

“Have we entered into the service of Christ willing 
to offer ourselves in the way which He considers most 
suitable for His cause? Amateurs do not advance His 
Kingdom. The offering of life in many different ways 
is needed. If our field of labour is the Student Chris- 
tian Movement with its great possibilities, we must 
not hesitate at the thought of what the fruitfulness 
may cost. But it is necessary absolutely to lay aside 
personal wishes regarding the place, the time, and man- 
ner of our work, and to hold neither money, health, 
nor life to be our own. It may mean leaving your 
country and living in the most uncongenial environ- 
ment, being misunderstood, belittled, and slandered. It 
may also mean continued travelling, no home or per- 
haps very little of one, and possibly for some it may 
mean the sacrificing of life in a martyr’s death. But 
for one and all it certainly means a great deal of self- 
sacrifice and hardship, much patience, toil and trouble, 
constant exertions in arranging and planning, temp- 


162 Baron Paul Nicolay 


tations and pains, an anguish for souls, always being 
at the disposal of others, and experiencing many disap- 
pointments and times of great discouragement.” 

Paul Nicolay was not an amateur in his work for 
the furthering of God's Kingdom among students. 
This work to him was “service, not play,” and he was 
therefore always ready to be used when and where his 
Lord willed. “Constant travelling’ had for long been 
his lot, and the student work also brought him far 
afield. Besides the conferences of the World’s Student 
Christian Federation at Versailles and Oxford he at- 
tended similar gatherings in many parts of Europe; in 
Soro (Denmark) 1902, Zeist (Holland) 1905, and 
Constantinople in 1911, and also meetings in Scandi- 
navia in Lecko 1901, Soro 1903, and Lillehammer in 
1912—here primarily as a delegate from Finland. 
Even beyond the boundaries of his own continent did 
his calling lead him. In 1907 he was present at the 
World’s Conference in Tokio, and in 1913 at Lake 
Mohonk in the United States. In these journeys, weak 
as he was, he had occasion to experience many of the 
inconveniences of travel. But as Eichendorff expresses 
it in his famous song: “Wem Gott will rechte Gunst : 
erweisen, den schickt er in die weite Welt,” he realised 
something of the joy of knowing that the horizon 
of his knowledge and experience was expanding in a 
practical way. Notes in his diary tell of the journeys 
to Japan and America, and a passing glance at what 
was experienced and accomplished by Baron Nicolay 
on these trips may be of interest. 

On March 4, 1907, Baron Nicolay started for Japan. 
He was still weak from an attack of influenza, an illness 


In Work for Student Federation 163 


which he gradually began to regard as a necessary pre- 
lude to a missionary journey—and such this might be 
considered, since the conference in Tokio was to be 
followed by an evangelistic campaign in different parts 
of Japan. In Moscow he was joined by two delegates 
from Holland and one from South Africa, and there he 
acted as their guide. The long train journey was very 
tiring, but the trip on the steamer along the beautiful 
Angora river was wonderful. On the 2oth of March 
the travellers reached Vladivostok where they had their 
first glimpse of the motley crowds of the East. 

They had most beautiful weather on the trip on 
board the “Mongolia,” and reached Japan on March 
22d. At Kioto the delegates were met by an American 
Missionary, who entertained them with great hospi- 
tality and showed them the sights of the city, where a 
heathen festival was being celebrated and great crowds 
were in commotion. In Kioto Baron Nicolay ob- 
served—what he found to be true throughout his 
whole visit to Japan—the absence of “crying children 
and quarrelling or swearing youths.” Cleanliness, 
order, and great politeness are apparent everywhere. 
“Jovial and yet refined,” Baron Nicolay calls the Japa- 
nese, and the costumes so artistic in shape and colour 
made the appearance of the crowds very attractive. 

From Kioto the Student representatives journeyed 
to Kobe where they saw the new university and the 
orphanage, whose matron, Mrs. Neesima, served “the 
ceremonial tea.” It was amusing to see “forty little 
Japanese youngsters together” in the children’s garden. 
But this did not complete the round of the city, for 
they had also to visit a large factory of Delft ware and 


164 Baron Paul Nicolay 


the magnificent Chion temple. Baron Nicolay de- 
scribed the visit in these characteristic words: “I can’t 
go into a heathen temple again, it stirs me up to have 
to take off my hat, and it hurts me to see this idolatry.” 
God was to Paul Nicolay far too much of a reality to 
permit his watching a form of worship which seemed 
misdirected and false with the cold interest of an ob- 
server or with zsthetic pleasure. To have to show 
reverence to what was unworthy was repulsive to him, 
and he preferred to avoid every situation where any- 
thing of the kind might be a necessity. 

From there they went to Kodzu, where Baron Nico- | 
lay partook for the first time of a truly Japanese meal 
served by four young Japanese girls and eaten in a 
squatting position with chopsticks. By electric train 
they then continued their journey to Youmato, and 
from there by foot to Mianoshito. They met with a 
slight snow storm and Baron Nicolay insists that the 
“poor Japanese shivered like butterflies in the cold.” 
But the scenery all the way was beautiful, and espe- 
cially the sight of the famous Fujiyama appealed to 
the travellers. 

As they neared Tokio Baron Nicolay began to think 
more seriously about the approaching conference, which 
had at first been somewhat supplanted by the many ex- 
ternal impressions. He sought to be alone with God, 
and rejoiced in fellowship with men who were famil- 
iar with the conditions and the people, and from whom 
he had occasion to learn something of the way in which 
it would be best to speak to Japanese students. A 
Missionary, whose advice he sought, emphasised the 


In Work for Student Federation 165 


need for centring all the preaching around the person 
of Christ. 

After a delay at Nikko for a committee meeting, 
Baron Nicolay finally went to Tokio where the work 
was to begin in earnest. When he was scheduled to 
speak on "The Student’s Need of a Savior” in the 
Central Methodist Church, he suffered from a piercing 
headache, and wondered how he should be able to give 
his first address to non-Christian students in this con- 
dition. But he found the right words, spoke of stu- 
dents’ discontent with life, of the sin and the interests 
which ensnare the soul, and illustrated all with examples 
from St. Petersburg, which he later found might have 
been applied to many of the five hundred Japanese 
in the audience. His second address, on "The Holy 
Scriptures and the Christian Life,” seemed in the eyes 
of the speaker to be "a lesson in how not to speak.” 
“Many thanked me, but I felt my unworthiness.” Dr. 
Fries said of the address in question that it “plainly 
testified of a deep and comprehensive experience,” and 
as it now appears in print it gives a strikingly clear 
picture of Paul Nicolay’s relation to the Bible as to 
one of the springs of life. Although Baron Nicolay 
during his visit to Japan, as in other places, was sel- 
dom satisfied with himself, he rejoiced in the experi- 
ences he had. “It was worth the trouble of taking 
such a long journey to experience a time like this.” 

At the close of the conference he travelled with Dr. 
and Mrs. Fries to Sendai, Fukushima, and Yamagata, 
a tour planned by the conference leaders for the pur- 
pose of reaching the large student masses at these 


166 Baron Paul Nicolay 


centres. In Fukushima a series of talks was given in 
the town hall, opened for this purpose, to about three 
hundred young men and women between sixteen and 
twenty years of age. Here Baron Nicolay spoke on 
Christianity’s influence on character, again making use 
of the rich experience he had gained through fellow- 
ship with Russian students. That evening a farewell 
meeting was held in the church where every one squat- 
ted on mats. The young people were asked if there 
were any among them who, with the knowledge they 
now had of what Christianity is, wanted to become 
Christians. To the joy and amazement of the evangel- . 
ists seventy-eight arose. Their names and addresses 
were later given to the five Japanese pastors who were 
in charge of the congregations in the city, where no 
Western Missionary was stationed. Dr. Fries later re- 
ceived from one of the seventy-eight a number of let- 
ters in which he first expressed his gratitude for the 
meetings through which a deep love for Christ had 
been kindled in his heart, later asked a great number 
of questions, and finally informed him to his great 
joy that he had by baptism been received into a Chris- 
tian church. 

Dr. Fries, who described the evangelistic tour, has 
also told of the many and encouraging memories pre- 
served from these days with Paul N icolay. “His con- 
siderateness and zeal, fired by a holy devotion, his un- 
changeable honesty, his wisdom and fine sensibilities, 
all helped to make him a most agreeable co-worker and 
an exceptionally valuable spiritual leader.” 

On the 12th of April Baron Nicolay, with the Japa- 
nese Professor Hierajama as interpreter, went to a 


In Work for Student Federation 167 


town where he spoke on I Tim. 1: 15,* and at a mass 
meeting in the evening on the theme: “Love, peace and 
joy.” In Yamagata, the goal of the journey, the Eu- 
ropeans were met by a missionary who brought them 
to a hotel for a banquet which the mayor of the town 
had arranged in their honour. Here, writes Baron 
Nicolay, there was “European food, besides the Japa- 
nese which is terrible.” The meetings were held in a 
government hall. Paul Nicolay was now given the op- 
portunity to speak on a theme more in his line than any 
other, a personal relation to a personal God as the first 
essential for the development of character, and he felt 
that he was able to do it “with power.” At other times 
he felt in Japan, as in Russia, that he must “‘bleed to 
bless.” Once before rising to give an address he asks 
himself: "Must I always be in anguish before I speak, 
and not know what I shall say?” And one day when 
scheduled to speak three times he is long uncertain as 
to the subjects for two of his addresses. But he was 
accustomed to difficulties of this kind, and the time 
spent in Japan was to him one of inward growth and 
spiritual development. 

On April 19th, with a very heavy sea, he left Tokio 
on the return journey. This journey proved to be 
quite an adventurous one with the fear of a threatened 
attack by robbers on the railway trip. But all went 
well, and on the 6th of May Baron Nicolay was home 
again in St. Petersburg. He did, however, as after the 
trip to Siberia in 1901, not allow himself any rest, but 
by May 28th was already in Dorpat where an attempt 


1“This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that 
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am 
chief.” 


168 Baron Paul Nicolay 


was being made to establish a branch of the Move- 
ment. 

Baron Nicolay’s presence at the conference in 
America in 1913 is of special interest on account of 
its being the last international conference he ever at- 
tended, and the last to be held before the breaking out 
of the World War. He had the joy of having with 
him on this trip several co-workers and members of the 
Movement in Russia, among whom was Mme. O., so 
often mentioned in his letters to Dr. Mott. He landed 
in New York at the end of May, going a few days later 
to attend a joint committee meeting at Princeton (New - 
Jersey), where he experienced one of the greatest mo- 
ments of his life. The Russian Student Christian 
Movement, which had come into existence in the au- 
tumn of 1912, was now admitted as a fully qualified 
member into the World’s Federation. Not Baron 
Nicolay alone, but all who were present on that occa- 
sion, felt the deep significance of the event, and there 
was a solemn prayer of thanksgiving for the blessing 
that had come to the work in Russia. Another im- 
pressive moment for the delegates at Princeton was the 
unveiling of a monument in memory of the founding 
of the American Student Y. M. C. A., which they were 
invited to attend. 

The conference itself was held at Lake Mohonk, in 
an extremely beautiful part of the country. Here Dr. 
K. Ibuka of Japan was elected chairman and Paul 
Nicolay vice-chairman—an honour which told of the 
reputation he enjoyed, but to which he paid little at- 
tention. Of the addresses which were given, Baron 
Nicolay singles out especially a brilliant speech by Dr. 


In Work for Student Federation 169 


Charles Grauss on the influence of France and a deep 
sermon by Bishop Brent of the Philippines. His own 
and Mme. O.’s accounts of the condition and needs of 
the Russian Student Movement aroused great interest 
on the part of the delegates. The sense of interna- 
tional brotherhood was very strongly felt here "on 
the mountain top.” “Like our Master we saw all the 
kingdoms of the world and all their glory—and the 
glory of a consecrated life, given over to be made of 
worth in God’s Kingdom,” said an American professor 
at the close of the Conference. 

After the Conference was officially over an excursion 
trip was taken to Niagara Falls whose great power 
deeply impressed Baron Nicolay. They travelled by 
way of Buffalo to Williamsport and Eaglesmere, where 
a summer conference was being held. In the evening 
Baron Nicolay was again given the opportunity to 
speak on Russia, and once more the students were en- 
thused by the opportunities for work in that vast, mys- 
terious and, to so many, unknown land of the East. 

At Northfield the delegation was asked to remain for 
the athletic stunts, without seeing which a visit to 
America could hardly be considered complete. The 
representatives of the different countries had by now 
become well acquainted, felt at home in each other’s 
company, and spent many happy hours together. The 
childlike spirit of joy which was Paul Nicolay’s, when 
he would at times “let himself go,” now expressed it- 
self in an original way. At an evening gathering all 
the European delegates marched to the platform and he 
explained that their choir would now render “the con- 
cert of Europe.” This was done by every member of 


170 Baron Paul Nicolay 


the choir singing loudly and at the same time the na- 
tional anthem of his own country—a good-natured 
satire, but with a prophetical significance more dread- 
ful than could be dreamed. When the World War 
broke out in the following year, with its most jarring 
mental discord, the violent outbreak of every people’s 
national egoism, many who had been at Northfield 
looked sadly back on what had then seemed but an inno- 
cent joke. And especially did he, who had organised 
the play that evening, who says of the visit to America 
that “such a gathering was like a foretaste of heaven,” 
and who rejoiced in the glorious and trustful relation © 
which can exist between nations when sanctified by 
the spirit of Christ. How happy he would have been 
had he been permitted to live long enough to see how 
the inner unity of the Student Christian Federation 
was affected less by the World War than that of any 
other international union. 

By reason of his great knowledge of languages 
Baron Nicolay became of invaluable service to the 
World's Federation in its international intercourse. 
He was even able to help by interpreting for some of 
the representatives of the smaller nations. Mr. Wilder 
tells in the “Student World” of a meeting in Austria, 
where the audience represented eighteen universities 
and thirteen nationalities, how a Bulgarian student ex- 
pressed his desire to speak, but did not see how this 
could be possible as he knew no language but his 
own. Immediately Paul Nicolay declared his will- 
ingness to interpret him into German, thus overcom- 
ing a situation which might have been painful. Al- 
though Baron Nicolay’s knowledge of Bulgarian can 


In Work for Student Federation 171 


not have been great, he was at least able by his mastery 
of one Slavic language—Russian—and his unique un- 
derstanding of the Slavic nature to form a connecting 
link between the student world of the Balkan States 
and Western Europe. 

In the beginning of 1911 he travelled with Dr. Mott 
to Switzerland where he was able in several places to 
interpret for him, and where he sought to organise 
Bible groups among the many Slavic students residing 
there. In the same year he was asked to pave the way 
in Sofia, Belgrade and Bucharest for a visit by Dr. 
Mott. This was no easy task, for he had here to work 
for a completely new idea with innumerable prejudices 
to overcome, to probe the unfathomable attitude of the 
Slavic authorities, and to secure the co-operation of 
trustworthy men who would also be respected in the stu- 
dent world. But Paul Nicolay, due to his vast experi- 
ence and his habit of facing similar difficulties, was the 
right man for the task. Some excerpts from a letter 
to Dr. Mott will suffice to show how he undertook 
the work in the Balkan States with the same quiet con- 
sideration and sound practical judgment as in Russia. 
From Sofia on February 27th he writes: * 


“This afternoon I intend to leave for Belgrade, and 
want to let you know something of my impressions. 
On the whole they are good and I find Sofia a very 
hopeful place... . 

“The rector, it is true, cancels his former invitation 
that you should come as guest of the University, but 
this is not on account of unfriendliness or fear of 


1 Quoted from the original English letter. 


[72 Baron Paul Nicolay 


Protestant propaganda, but, as he candidly told me, he 
is afraid of the students. Another prominent and in- 
fluential professor also finds that the students have 
such an exaggerated sense of independence, that they 
would resent it if professors meddled with their con- 
cerns. Anyhow all the professors I spoke with are 
very ready to invite you to a cup of tea and will be 
glad to have a talk with you. Professor Schismanoft 
is a keyman, very intelligent and friendly, who has 
studied Christianity from a historical and sociological 
point of view only, and expressed his wish to have a 
deeper talk with you. It would be well worth while. 

“The rector definitely promised to give you the 
largest auditorium in the University. I gave him your, 
letter and read to him the contents of the introduction 
for the Minister of Public Instruction. ... 

“I had a very good impression of Mr. B., a nice, 
teachable, intelligent, quiet, Christian man of business, 
serving in a bank and belonging to no church. Among 
the students who are members of the Y. M. C. A. I 
found some very fine men—Mr. N. A., a real student, 
nominally a member of the Greek Orthodox Church, but 
quite evangelical; Mr. S. V., an intelligent gentlemanly 
fellow and devoted Christian. I had no difficulty 
whatever to convince these men of the absolute neces- 
sity of avoiding all appearances even of Protestant 
propaganda in our work, to prepare for your arrival on 
strictly interdenominational lines and by no means 
under even the shadow of the flag of the Y. M. C. A. 
They have by experience learned that it is hopeless to 
work differently, and themselves expressed the wish to 
form a student group according to our principles inde- 
pendent of the Y.M.C. A. I advised them not to form — 


In Work for Student Federation 173 


any new organisation before your arrival, but to form 
Student Bible Circles now among themselves, and to 
use our hand-book, so as to have some training for later 
when you will have had your lectures. 

“, . . They would like one address to be on ‘Science 
and Religion.’ Maybe some of the workers like Miss 
Rouse or Wilder should stay on after your departure 
to follow up. . . . Concerning a translator, I think it 
would be better if a good translator could be found to 
translate into Bulgarian, rather than my translating 
into Russian, which is more or less understood by all 
students, but not perfectly. 

“They say that the Queen is much interested in 
Christian work and would possibly wish to see you, but 
that an interview with royalty would spoil your influ- 
ence with students. . . 

“Concerning the irreligiousness of the students and 
their indifference to religious subjects, I fancy they 
will come, though out of curiosity, like they do in other 
places, if only the advertising is well carried out and 
the time chosen when they are in town. One of the 
professors told me that the students want an address 
to be clear, to the point, giving palpable facts and prac- 
tical reasons for joining a movement like ours, and 
also clear indications of what would be expected of 
them. They are suspicious of hidden motives and must 
be convinced that we have none.” 


From Belgrade, where Baron Nicolay found “a man 
sent from God” ready to help in every way, he writes 
as follows: + 

“The rector took matters seriously when I showed 


1 Quoted from the original English letter. 


174 Baron Paul Nicolay 


him the attitude of the Swiss professors and especially 
the letter to the Minister of Public Instruction. He 
offers the large hall of the University. I saw several 
other professors, of- whom Professor Marco Lecco 
showed genuine interest and asked for literature in 
German: . . . The spiritual condition is such that 
I only could tell Mrs. C. that it is darkest before dawn. 

“T advised them, besides three meetings with stu- 
dents, to give you one conversazione with professors 
and one meeting for thoughtful townspeople. You 
will have to pitch into them and tell them that religion 
is not yet dead and done for, as they imagine.”’ 


In Bucharest Baron Nicolay found every one occu- 
pied with the Parliamentary elections—the Minister, 
the rector, all away electioneering. He describes a 
visit to the archimandrite whom he found friendly but 
noncommittal, and who sent him to a Christian pro- 
fessor of medicine who was suffering from influenza, 
and continues : * 

“I met several times the influential student Mr. I., 
whom Miss Rouse mentions, but he, too, is reserved. 
I could not quite believe it at first, but it seems that 
Mr. Adeney is right in saying that just at present every- 
body is deadly afraid of ‘propaganda,’ especially Ro- 
man Catholic, but also Protestant. . . . I found out 
that the first step to be taken was to begin at the top 
and see the Minister of Public Instruction. Yesterday 
I saw his secretary and found him a nice, serious man, 
who would be in sympathy with influencing the stu- 
dents in a moral way. . . . To-day I met his Excel- 


1 Quoted from the original English letter. 


In Work for Student Federation 175 


lency the Minister, who, though personally I believe 
quite indifferent to the matter, was exceedingly polite, 
gave his consent, promised a hall, and even said he 
would be happy to hear you himself. So now the way 
is opened and to-morrow I am to meet the Rector and 
decide about a committee. I shall ask that one stu- 
dent from each faculty be on it, in hopes that Mr. I. 
will be appointed one of them, being a prominent man, 
but I may not mention his name so as not to harm 


him. . . . To the secretary and to the Minister I have 
said nothing about the Federation, but only about your 
lectures. . . . The main point to aim at is to give you 


the chance of addressing the students. All the rest 
will follow naturally, I hope.” 


His impression of his visit to Bucharest was not 
favourable, and Baron Nicolay closes his letter by say- 
ing, "Much prayer is needed to secure your success in 
these Balkan States.” When a couple of months later 
Dr. Mott, accompanied by Baron Nicolay, lectured in 
the places “prepared” he seemed indeed to be facing 
great obstacles—especially in Belgrade where, during 
his final address, the socialists began to demonstrate, 
to cry out, whistle, and knock over chairs. Neverthe- 
less, the foundations were laid for a growing work. 
Most encouraging were the results in Sofia, where the 
admonitions from Belgrade to break up the meetings 
were of no avail, and where not even Dr. Mott’s audi- 
ence with the Queen could dissolve the good impres- 
sion he had made. 

The following year the Balkan lands were visited 
by Sherwood Eddy, whose addresses resulted in great 


176 Baron Paul Nicolay 


progress. Baron Nicolay had expected to accompany 
him there, but did not have to do so as Eddy found 
another companion. But he did not forget the field 
where he had prepared the way, but followed the work 
with keen interest, and especially with much prayer. 
One of the great joys of his life was a letter received 
in the summer of 1919 from a Bulgarian student who 
had formerly belonged to the Kieff branch of the Rus- 
sian Movement, and who now wrote of the successful 
spiritual work he was able to carry on in Sofia. He 
held also an official position in the capital of his coun- 
try, and had thus “the opportunity now and again of 
defending the addresses of good Christian speakers.” 
Here Baron Nicolay could see the fruit of his labour 
which consisted, according to Dr. Mott, in “educating 
the educators and leaders of the people.” Radiantly 
he showed his friend Baron Henrik Wrede, who vis- 
ited him during his last illness, these precious words 
which testified to how mighty was the Lord of the 
Harvest even where the prospects seemed least prom- 
ising. . 

In this sphere also Paul Nicolay was survived by his 
work. One of those now working in the Slavic lands, 
Mrs. W. J. Rose of Canada, has recently said that 
these countries have never been so open to the influ- 
ence of the Gospel as at the present time, and in con- 
nection with this she speaks of Paul Nicolay, whom she 
met at a conference at Ligotka in Silesia in 1914, and 
whose influence she deeply values. The characteristics 
of his personality which she depicts will perhaps sum 
up better than anything else what it was that deter- 


In Work for Student Federation 177 


mined his position within the World’s Student Chris- 
tian Federation: * 

“The gentleness of Baron Nicolay made a deep im- 
pression on the Slav students at our Federation Con- 
ference in Ligotka, 1914. We of the Western World 
are apt to underestimate the value of this quality—one 
of the cluster of the fruits of the Holy Spirit. The 
voice of God is not always in the wind and in thunder, 
but in the stillness. And it was the repose of this 
servant of Christ, the calm faith in God that made him 
so beloved by us all. Surely in these days of nerv- 
ous haste, impatience, and striving, the personality of 
Baron Nicolay should be an inspiration for us. Surely 
we too will gain more in strength if we cease our rush- 
ing and withdraw into the stillness to seek God, by 
whom alone wisdom and power for our tasks can be 
given. If the man, whose personality is for us a pre- 
cious memory, could speak to us to-day, would he not 
point out this communion with God as the source of 
all joy and healing for the wounds made by the war?” 


1 Quoted from the original English account by Mrs. Rose. 


CHAPTER VII 
In Finland 


GC TIZEN of the World is a term which might be 

justly applied to such a man as was Paul Nicolay. 
The whole world was his sphere of service, all people 
who needed help on their way to Christ were his people. 
That country which seemed to need him most was Rus- 
sia, and to her he devoted his best strength and the 
greater portion of his time. Yet he was not entirely 
rooted there. We have seen how England was the 
land of his longings; but it was too far away. There 
was, however, one country which gradually came to be 
his home, where he could work unhindered, where love 
and sympathy became his portion, a land which through 
his birth-right he might even call his own. That land 
was Finland. 

Paul Nicolay was born a Finnish Baron and heir 
to an estate on Finnish soil. By attending Parliament 
he had learned to know the educated class, and by visits 
to Monrepos and missionary work on the coast her 
country population. He had acquired both of the lan- 
guages of the land and, though speaking neither of 
them quite correctly, could easily make himself under- 
stood in Finnish, and in Swedish readily give voice to 
his deepest thoughts. The changing fate of Finland 
never left him untouched, his heart bled when her 


people suffered and he, the submissive and self-con- 
178 


In Finland 179 


trolled, would inwardly rebel against the blows aimed 
at her independence. During the “Bobrikoff” period 
of suppression—those distressful years—entries often 
occur in his diary similar to these: “A terrible day for 
Finland!” “T hope they will not promulgate. It would 
be too mean.” Or again, “New authority for the Gov- 
ernor General to send into exile! Such murderous 
thoughts beset me.” Yes, he, who usually stood apart 
from all politics, willingly put himself at the disposal 
of his Finnish friends to gain information on a situa- 
tion or plead for justice in Finland in influential Rus- 
sian circles. 

In Evy Fogelberg’s book “The Prisoners’ Friend” 
we find an account of a visit made by Mathilda Wrede, 
in his company, in 1899 to the Metropolitan Antony. 
_ Baron Nicolay manifested on this occasion his char- 
acteristic gentle firmness. When the “Metropolitan” 
objected to a request put to him by saying that “he 
had no influence,’ Paul Nicolay replied: “Every hon- 
est man has some influence, and he who knows the 
right and does not do it, for him it is sin.’ Baron 
Henrik Wrede tells of another incident in which Paul 
Nicolay championed the cause of Finland and justice. 
When his friend Maximovsky had been assigned the 
task of assisting in recasting Finland’s penal law, he 
strove hard to influence him to an attitude favourable 
to his country. And if any of his Finnish friends were 
in danger, Paul Nicolay was always the first turned to 
in order to disentangle if possible the case. However 
busy he might be and however poor his health, he was 
always ready to help. 

Paul Nicolay loved Finland’s legal orderliness, he 


180 Baron Paul Nicolay 


loved Finland’s people—“our beloved Finnish people” 
he often called them and never differentiated between 
the Swedish and Finnish Finlanders, for to him such 
a distinction did not exist. He loved the atmosphere 
of peace and order which prevailed before the war in 
the land. But most of all he loved Finland’s stu- 
dents. 

Madame af Forselles has told how Paul Nicolay in 
January of 1901, for the first time apart from summer 
conferences at Abo, was prevailed on to address a group 
of Finnish students of both sexes, and how in his dis- 
couragement he afterward exclaimed: “What a fool 
you have made of me!” and added, “Never again will 
I speak to students.” Baron Nicolay very soon learned 
the truth of the saying "never say never,” for he was 
often to speak to students, including Finnish students, 
and with unusually great success. And the words he 
uttered that day at the home of Madame af Forselles— 
simple, direct words on the meaning of the Cross of 
Christ—were never forgotten by those who heard him, 
and became a worth-while introduction to his future 
work. 

Baron Nicolay’s contribution to the summer con- 
ference at Abo in 1900 has already been mentioned. 
He was present at nearly all similar conferences in the 
future and was as a matter of course always made a 
member of the committees of arrangement. When the 
programme was first drawn up he wrote lengthy letters 
to the secretaries of the Student Christian Movement 
with explicit replies to all the questions which were 
asked of him. He advised on the place of meeting, 
the suitability of proposed speakers, subjects for ad- 


In Finland 181 


dresses, and many other details—but he never de- 
manded nor expected that all these suggestions be fol- 
lowed. Nothing could illustrate better than these let- 
ters Paul Nicolay’s great and genuine humility. He 
wrote to the inexperienced young people who were in 
the work of the Movement as if to complete equals, 
and always respected their point of view. If things 
did not go as he had wished, if his “companions” in 
the Movement opposed some of his suggestions, he 
usually assumed that God had intended the matter to 
take such a turn. But he never refused to share his 
experiences, whether they might apply to summer con- 
ferences, selection of office holders, lectures, work of 
Bible groups, or anything else. 

At the conferences themselves Baron Nicolay usually 
gave several addresses, often being asked for the open- 
ing or closing address of the conference. But he also 
took a much more active part, as he was the inspira- 
tional and leading spiritual force. These were never 
allowed to degenerate into excursions or summer fes- 
tivals, but they must be prepared for and supported by 
much prayer, and all the converted students be re- 
minded of their responsibility to their seeking com- 
panions. One of his favourite similes was that God does 
not want Christians to be like sponges, merely absorb- 
ing the Water of Life, seeking sanctification and spirit- 
ual deepening for themselves, and never giving any- 
thing. The joy of youth must come to its own, and 
here as at the Russian conferences Baron Nicolay could 
be the gladdest of the glad—but never in a way that 
might efface his real purpose, the winning of souls for 
Christ. Those who have been with him recall how 


182 Baron Paul Nicolay 


often a conversation on everyday things would grad- 
ually take on a serious tone, until he would interrupt 
it with a quiet: “Let us now put these thoughts into 
the form of prayers’ 

The summer days spent in a beautiful place became 
days of refreshment to him. He was at home with 
Finland’s students, and to them he became a true friend 
and perhaps more of an authority than he himself 
might have wished. As the train, approaching the 
place where the summer conference was to meet, grad- 
ually filled with young Finnish students in white caps, 
his face lit up and great was his joy when the chorus 
struck up some conference hymn: “Det ar ett kosteligt 
ting” (It is a precious thing), or “Om dig, Om dig, 
O Jesu, vill jag sjunga” (Of Thee, of Thee, oh, Jesus, 
will I sing). He was not musical nor a judge of sa- 
cred music, but he loved these hymns. He found the 
self-reliant freshness of youth especially restful after 
the nervous strain of Russia. And the young people 
thronged around him—‘“Baron Nicolay,” ‘Uncle Paul” 
—and nothing was as it should be unless he were along. 
To hear his gentle cheerful voice say in greeting, “God 
dag, god dag, kara van” (Good day, good day, dear 
friend) with the familiar burr in “kara,” to catch sight 
of the inevitable sport cap, which would disappear into 
the pocket of his grey coat, gave to every one imme- 
diately the feeling of being at home. 

And in the days that followed “Baron” remained, 
despite his modest and almost shy manner, the central 
figure at the conference. His Bible studies on such 
men as Elijah, Jacob, or Paul, or on a subject like 
“The Power of Faith” always contained some prac- 


In Finland 183 


tical truths which etched themselves into the memory, 
never to be forgotten. What a new significance came 
to the story of Jacob, so hard to understand, when it 
was characterised as the account of "God's leading and 
training of a man with a considerably (in Baron Nico- 
lay’s mouth "”greatly”) complex and difficult charac- 
ter,” and how the second chapter of the Sermon on the 
Mount was clarified, when it was pointed out that it 
stressed throughout the need for “truth in the inward 
parts.” ? Striking was his interpretation of Matt. 
5: 22—‘“Antipathy is hatred.” And how his talks went 
home with their personal appeal to every conscience, 
without pathos or presumption! “But your and my 
attitude to Him must be genuine in all things’’—these 
words typify all Baron Nicolay’s statements. They 
were in his eyes the first condition for an approach to 
Christ, and he never wearied of pointing this out, nor 
did any grow weary of listening to it. 

Significant is a remark of quite a young boy at the 
Ilmajoki Conference, the last ever attended by Baron 
Nicolay. When some one asked the youth which of 
the speakers he liked best, he answered immediately 
“Baron Nicolay; one can’t but believe what he says.” 
The secret of his influence was just the limitless confi- 
dence he inspired, which forced all to pause before 
what was truth to this truthful man. Thus it was with 
suspense that people waited for what he would say in 
answer to some “question,” one of those anonymous 
written questions which were placed in the ‘question 
box” at summer conferences to be answered by some 
of the older people present. The answer often con- 


1 Psalm 51:6. 


184 Baron Paul Nicolay 


tained practical advice of great help to the questioner, 
usually references to Bible verses or a suggestion to 
study a Bible narrative from a definite angle, and oc- 
casionally—if the question were peripheral in nature 
—an injunction to let it alone and concentrate on the 
essentials. Very often the answer struck a weak spot 
in the conscience of the asker, forcing him to look at 
himself in a new light. But it always came like a 
helping hand from an experienced comrade-in-arms, 
and never as an indisputable oracle nor something com- 
plete which could be received with no effort on one’s 
own part. A man must, he felt, be converted, “not to 
us, nor to our dogmatic views, but to a personal ex- 
perience of the truth.” 

As Shepherd of Men’s Souls Paul Nicolay was also 
known within our Student Christian Movement. He 
was never happier than when some one came to talk 
with him about his spiritual difficulties, as was often 
the case at summer conferences as well as during his 
visits to Helsingfors. In this way he opened up for 
many young seekers the way to a personal Christian- 
ity, by showing them that a great many questions could 
at first be left unanswered if only the conscience were 
gripped by Christ and the will yielded to Him. He, 
whose life of faith was so simple and complete, dis- 
played a wonderful sympathy even for those who were 
troubled by rather unusual doubts. Typical in every 
respect of Paul Nicolay is a letter to such a young 
person who informed him that she did not feel she 
could work with other Christians, as she did not know 
whether her beliefs agreed in the main with theirs— 
the atoning power of Christ still being a concept for- 


In Finland 185 


eign to her. The letter goes to the heart of the mat- 
ter, 


“T remember what it has cost me spiritually to ‘stand 
on my own feet,’ to be ‘under the law of Christ,’ but 
free from ‘the law of men.’ I wanted to be faith- 
ful and conscientious in my relation to God and His 
Word, but without letting men put their stamp on me, 
forcing me to imitate them in dogma or phraseology. 
... lo me ‘Christ in me’ has meant more than 
‘Christ for me,’ as my experience has been more along 
that line. That does not mean that the other concept 
is unnecessary or superfluous. He reveals Himself to 
one person more from one angle, to another from an- 
other, and we gradually realise that the different ways 
do not contradict but rather complement each other. 

“But what makes you think that you must feel iso- 
lated among Christians? He who says of Christ ‘my 
Lord and my God,’ he is certainly a Christian. It is 
wonderful that the Christians’ unity does not consist 
in unity of forms and expressions, but in the unity of 
the spirit. Christ loves his flowers, not wanting them 
to imitate each other but that each in his own special 
way should try to resemble Him—that there might be 
‘unity in diversity.’ ‘One is your Master—Christ,’ 
not men. That makes us free, but yielded to Christ. 
As long as you serve Him humbly and with a good 
conscience you need not worry about the future and 
that you may have to stand alone. All somewhat ma- 
ture Christians must come to recognise your right to 
independence under the guidance of Christ.” 


186 Baron Paul Nicolay 


The writer seemed to know just how to place him- 
self in the position of the questioner to get the right 
point of view on her special difficulties. How circum- 
spect and yet how firm.was his hold on the young soul. 
His clear conception of every soul’s right to individ- 
ual development, his certainty that “God wants orig- 
mals and not copies,’ was of great value in his inter- 
course with students. And what a clear and beautiful 
picture he unconsciously gives of himself, free but 
yielded, the bondservant of Christ, but of no one else. 

It is not strange that Paul Nicolay’s personal in- 
fluence on the Finnish students was great, and became 
his foremost contribution to our Student Christian 
Movement. He became unconsciously, to many of the 
students, an ideal or at least a stirring example. The 
educational influence he exerted on the members of 
the Movement who came into touch with him can 
hardly be overestimated. Not with words alone, but 
still more forcibly with his life did he emphasise the 
central things. He sought for inner worth alone, and 
moved among these young people, who were often 
from small and simple homes, as artlessly and natu- 
rally as he would in the salon of a prince, never af- 
fectedly courteous but always friendly and helpful to 
the very youngest, always self-controlled and patient. 
Thus he revealed to many the meaning of true cul- 
ture of the soul, its aversion to all self-sufficiency, inso- 
lent demanding of one’s own right, and selfish effemi- 
nacy in every form. To see “our Baron’—“paro- 
nimme’’—on his way to a summer conference, rise and 
offer his seat to some one or, in the most natural way, 
load himself with the luggage of another, had a greater 


In Finland 187 


effect than many sermons on the young men who were 
with him. 

One who had been with Paul Nicolay describes an 
event which was ineffaceably engraved on his mem- 
ory. Baron Nicolay was standing outside the student 
building in Helsingfors when the throng at the tram- 
way cars was at its worst, trying to find room in one 
of them. People elbowed their way forward, as is 
the way of the world. By the Baron’s side stood a 
simple labourer’s wife who had great difficulty in get- 
ting into the car, for others who were stronger kept 
jostling her aside. Finally Baron Nicolay, patiently 
awaiting his own turn, raised his gentle voice in her 
cause: “Be considerate of this lady!” ‘That voice 
came as from another world,” wrote the one who told 
of the event, “a world which is governed by the laws 
of righteousness, which protect the rights of the small 
and the weak.” Seldom did Baron Nicolay speak of 
social injustice, and reluctantly did he discuss political 
questions with the students. But by giving them an 
example in nobility of heart, he likewise gave them a 
glimpse into the spirit of true democracy. 

Gentle tactfulness characterised Baron Nicolay, and 
was advocated by him. When he encouraged “per- 
sonal work” for the winning of souls he often added, 
“Naturally we must be tactful.” In this respect as in 
others he felt we should go in Jesus’ footsteps; He 
knocks at the door of our heart, but He does not vio- 
lently break his way in, He is far too tactful for that; 
He waits for us to open for Him. But as a flag over 
a consulate shows to the citizens of a country where 
they may find their official representative, so we should 


188 Baron Paul Nicolay 


always show our colors that those who long for Chris- 
tian fellowship or guidance may without hesitation 
turn to us. This was then his final solution of the 
“problem of witnessing,” which had troubled him so 
much in his youth. 

Baron Nicolay himself was always ready to help 
any who needed him by word or deed. Nothing which 
might serve God’s Kingdom was trivial in his sight, 
and he always practised a strict fidelity even in the 
smallest things. Never wittingly did he leave a let- 
ter unanswered, never missed an appointment, never 
forgot what had been entrusted to him. His punctu- 
ality was phenomenal, and he likewise expected others 
to be punctual in their relationships with him. In this 
matter the Finnish students must have caused him 
many bitter disappointments. To him punctuality was 
one phase of honesty—his yea must always be yea, and 
his nay, nay. If he were ever forced to revoke a prom- 
ise he was deeply grieved. Thus he once writes when 
he cannot find a subject for a message: “I am willing 
during the next days even by ‘prayer and fasting’ to 
seek a message from God; but what if it should not 
come? Then there would be no alternative but to go 
on strike and let P. give his address alone, and never 
show myself in the Movement rooms again after hav- 
ing fooled you in such a way.” There is severe self- 
reproach behind these half-facetious words. 

It was always a great day for the members of the 
Movement when Baron Nicolay came to Helsingfors, 
and it seemed every time as if he brought with him an 
invigorating breath of air, however “dry and ex- 
hausted” he often felt himself to be. It was easier to 


In Finland 189 


pray and work when he was there, and although his 
visits were rare—a couple of times during the aca- 
demic year—the whole life of the Movement was, like 
the summer conferences, gradually permeated by his 
personality. The spirit of prayer and simple devotion 
which was his became predominant within the Finnish 
Student Christian Movement, though perhaps some- 
what at the expense of the purely academic, yet as a 
sign of spiritual freedom and joyful willingness for 
work. 

That the Movement could not always remain at the 
height where Baron Nicolay would like to see it, that 
he was far from always satisfied with its activities, 
is natural. In many of his letters we find quite severe 
criticism of the work, but always given by a friend 
and not by a fault-finder. ‘The Finnish Movement 
is passing through a period of stagnation; you ought 
to come here,” he might, for example, write to his 
friend Mr. Wilder. 

It was just these times of standing still which 
troubled him most, the periods when the growth of 
the Movement seemed checked. By growth he might 
mean external development, new victories in the stu- 
dent world, and he felt it important for the Movement 
never to forget its missionary task. But above all he 
sought the inner spiritual development. After the sum- 
mer conference at Ilmajoki, which satisfied him in the 
main, he writes in his diary about the Movement it- 
self: “How it has grown in quantity, but hardly in 
quality.” As in Russia, he stressed here also the im- 
portance of a nucleus of live Christians within the 
Movement to give colour to its activity. And if he felt 


190 Baron Paul Nicolay 


that its inner life seemed threatened, that the salt was 
about to lose its savour, he was the first to raise a voice 
of warning. At his suggestion, so-called “retreats” 
had begun to be organised in Finland in 1913. At 
these, small groups of Movement members met in quiet 
rural spots to seek deeper consecration and to con- 
fer on the work. None of those who had responsibil- 
ity in regard to the spiritual work of the Movement, 
and thus for the souls of others, should be satisfied 
with the knowledge of being converted and saved, but 
they must, with never diminishing intensity, press on- 
ward along the path of sanctification. 

One member of the Movement jotted down in his 
note-book some words spoken by Baron Nicolay in an 
address on February 6, 1914, which were engraved in 
the memory of many: “Our highest task is to glorify 
God by our conduct.” In connection with this Baron 
Nicolay mentioned some "precious stones” worthy of 
possession: patience which may be quite hard to ob- 
tain, gentleness which enables the mind of its owner 
to be quiet and at peace even when others grow angry 
and lose the equilibrium of their souls, purity even in 
thought life, courage which is independent of the opin- 
ion of the majority, veracity which tolerates nothing 
that is not perfectly true, and, finally, love even to- 
wards the uncongenial., 

Such was the ideal he set up for the young people, 
and based on the Sermon on the Mount, "a mirror,” 
as he liked to call it, “in which we see ourselves as we 
are, and as we ought to be.” ‘Towards this ideal every 
Christian ought to strive throughout his life, not in 
his own strength, but by preserving the vital touch with 


In Finland 191 


God. "We must not be locomotives, but electric tram 
cars,” he often said, aiming at just that contact. Again 
and again he referred students to the two great sources 
of power: the Bible and Prayer, to the quiet moments 
of eternity in “the Morning Watch.” “How are you 
keeping the Morning Watch?” he inquired one morn- 
ing of one of the members whom he met after rather 
a long separation, and whom he heard complaining of 
spiritual dearth. “Keep an iron grip on the Morning 
Watch,” was his admonition to another of his old stu- 
dents, who visited him a short time before his death 
and who now holds a leading position in the Move- 
ment. It was like a last greeting to the whole of the 
Student Christian Movement. "Keep an iron grip on 
the Morning Watch !”—by devotion—by sanctification. 

Little did Baron Nicolay himself realise how in- 
dispensable he had gradually become to the Christian 
Students of Finland, he had too little confidence in his 
own work for that. When he was invited to Helsing- 
fors to deliver a series of lectures in the large hall of 
the University, or Bible Studies in the Movement 
rooms, he was astonished to find that people wanted 
to “have him.” For he felt that there were so many 
others who might be made use of. At that time when 
he was afraid of being forced to “strike’ on account 
of being unable to find a “message,” he wrote further: 
“It is quite possible that you may have overlooked 
some one who God had intended should speak, and 
that it was not His will at all that I should speak 
again.” And when in the spring of 1919 he was in- 
vited by the Northern Committee to speak at the Scan- 
dinavian Summer Conference held that year in Den- 


192 Baron Paul Nicolay 


mark, he, who had taken part several times in the 
past, flatly refused, mentioning in his reply a list of 
young speakers who “could represent Finland much 
better than he.” But touched and gratified he was by 
every sign of the students’ affection. When in 1914 
he had to be absent from a summer conference at Abo, 
the delegates of the conference sent him a greeting 
with a large number of signatures. In his letter of 
thanks he expressed surprise, and added, “God bless 
them all for their kindness to a ‘vanha ukko’ (old 
man). I will keep this list as a truly valuable gift.” 

As a “vanha ukko,” an “uncle” who was already a 
little out of the game, he often described himself in 
relation to the younger workers in the Movement. He 
was afraid of being in their way, afraid even of “not 
being of use at the meetings.” When at the Ilmajoki 
Conference he did not come into as close contact with 
the young students as before, he remarked to Madame 
af Forselles with a humour touched with pathos: “Here 
we go around like two Olympic gods.” To be placed 
on a pedestal was the last thing he desired. He wanted 
to serve students, not to be admired by them. Never- 
theless, it must have been with joy that he in 1918 
received a call from the Student Christian Movement 
in Finland to be its first honorary member. He could 
not fail to realise the sincere warmth which prompted 
this action. And what he had in reality become to the 
Finnish Students finds expression in the following 
words written after his departure: 


“We feel as if we had become fatherless; but J am 
convinced that he will never die for any who even in 





ON BOARD THE 





In Finland 193 


the capacity of listeners were brought within the sphere 
of his influence. He will always remain an encourag- 
ing and stimulating example of how God can trans- 
figure and sanctify a life which is wholly devoted to 
Him.” 


If Paul Nicolay could have known that he had been 
able to reveal to the Christian students of Finland 
something of God’s power to change and sanctify souls, 
it would have greatly rejoiced his heart. _ For that 
was what he had most deeply desired. 


In the membership of Finland’s Student Christian 
Movement one group has always been more strongly 
represented than others, the theological students. It 
is usually quite natural for young men, often from re- 
ligious homes, who come to the University to pre- 
pare for the ministry, to join an organisation of this 
kind. Thus for two decades the Student Christian 
Movement has been to the prospective preachers and 
pastors, especially of the national church, a sort of 
practical training school through which the theoretical 
training of the University is afforded an active outlet. 
Here they have been brought into touch with educated, 
earnest young people of different religious trends and 
different ranks of society; here they have become ac- 
customed through discussions with students of the hu- 
manities, medical and sociological students, to clarify 
their scientific and practical attitude to questions re- 
garding their own religious life. When they first began 
to take their place as speakers and religious leaders 
among intellectually developed and exacting compan- 


194 Baron Paul Nicolay 


ions, they began to learn to give of their best in their 
work. Thus the Student Movement accomplished an 
important task in the service of the Church, and in this 
respect never has any one exerted a deeper or more 
lasting influence than Baron Nicolay. One who in 
student years heard him emphasise a personal relation 
to a personal God, based on perfect sincerity as the 
goal and purport of religion, who through fellowship 
with him learned the significance of such a relationship, 
he could never as a pastor be content to tread the old 
and worn-out paths of indolence or self-sufficiency, but 
he must strive to perform a living work in the presence 
of the living God. Through his work in the Move- 
ment Paul Nicolay became in his own characteristic 
way—working from the inside out—a reformer in 
church life. And towards the close of his life he was 
to take even a more active part in this work. 

As we have already seen, Baron Nicolay seemed 
rather indifferent in his attitude to the church in which 
he was baptised. What was merely empty outward 
form did not attract him, and within the Lutheran 
Church he had seen in his childhood, and even later, 
external forms advance far too often at the expense 
of the substance. “Unconverted” pastors, who from 
the pulpit preached things they did not believe or which 
had not as yet become real to them, he always judged 
severely. He found their sermons unspeakably tire- 
some, and never made a secret of it. “Why do they go 
so far away to look for their subjects? Is it strange 
if people give up attending church?” is one remark in 
his diary. Baron Wrede tells of an occasion in which 
they both listened to a sermon of the “tiresome” kind. 


In Finland 195 


When Baron Wrede remarked at the close that he was 
going home to rest and “take a little nap,” his friend 
replied, “I have already done that” ; and to the question, 
when and where it had been possible, the quaint re- 
sponse was, “In church.” Very sharply did Baron Nico- 
lay, at another time, speak of a pastor who prayed “not 
to God, but to his congregation.’’ An insincere emphasis 
in a prayer or religious address, whether spoken in a 
Lutheran Church or Free Church Chapel, always 
caused him pain. He had little patience with theo- 
logical subtleties, with narrow-minded dogmatism or 
formalism. “I have always been a poor church 
Christian, both in the Lutheran and Free Church,” he 
admitted in 1914. He himself, as we know, was will- 
ing to grant the individual great freedom in his rela- 
tions to God as long as he was “consecrated to Christ.” 
Though not a follower of the radical trend in Biblical 
research—‘“‘too much radical theology’ was his disap- 
proving verdict of one Northern Conference—he would 
not deny any one the right to his own attitude in this 
matter, as long as the investigator “remained humble 
and was willing to be taught of God.” And he main- 
tained that no views, however orthodox, could consti- 
tute the condition for salvation. Significant is the 
question he put to a person who was anxious regard- 
ing a departed friend, who had before his death pro- 
fessed belief in “the modern theories” : "Do you think 
that we are saved through our orthodoxy?’ Neither 
to him was participating in any church form essential 
to a relationship with God, although he held the sacra- 
ments of the church in great reverence. 

The views which in his early years he found held 


196 Baron Paul Nicolay 


by Lutheran clergy were, as a rule, so completely differ- 
ent that a certain prejudice against the whole body was 
aroused in him. When in 1902 Baron K. A. Wrede 
passed the examination for “venia concionandi,” grant- 
ing him the right to preach in the churches, Paul 
Nicolay disapproved of the step and let his friend hear 
biting remarks on it. “You may still end up as a 
pastor,” he said sarcastically. “If your work is of any 
value it is simply because you are not a pastor, and 
yet preach the Word of God.” But in time he learned 
to appreciate the reason for his friend’s action. His 
attitude to the Lutheran Church gradually underwent 
a great change. This was not due to the lessening of 
what he required of the clergy, but to his more often 
seeing pastors who met these requirements, and also to 
his eyes being opened to the great place the Church as 
such should have in the life of the people. 

The student work in Finland contributed largely to 
this change in Baron Nicolay’s point of view. He was 
here brought, through his fatherly attitude to many 
of the young theologians, into a more intimate relation 
with that Church in which they were to work, and to 
which he could no longer remain as a critical onlooker. 
And at the summer conferences he also learned to know 
many older pastors, among whom were many sympa- 
thetic, sincere, and unpretentious men of a totally 
different type from the formal representatives of a dead 
ecclesiasticism who were his dread. 

While he was thus gaining a brighter outlook on the 
men of the church, he was becoming to many of them 
a real revelation of what might be accomplished through 
good lay preachers. And his profound knowledge of 


In Finland 197 


the Bible, added to the rich experience behind his un- 
pretentious bearing, won their respect and admiration. 
At the conference at Åbo in 1900, Baron K. A. Wrede, 
in the dark vestibule outside the hall where his friend 
had spoken, was embraced by a pastor who evidently ' 
mistook him for Nicolay, although the enthusiastic 
pastor, on realising his mistake, amiably added: “It'll 
be for Wrede then!” Even if this hearty token of 
friendship failed to reach Baron Nicolay at the time, 
he was later to receive many similar ones from the 
Finnish pastors. | 

In 1905 Baron Nicolay for the first time took part 
in the work of the Church, when he was prevailed upon 
to hold a series of revival meetings in the City Mission 
Chapel Betania in Helsingfors. The following year 
he was invited with Baron Wrede to be a speaker at 
the first separate conference for the edification of pas- 
tors, which was to be held at Abo. “A strange invita- 
tion,” he felt this call to be, as he regarded himself still 
so far removed from the clergy and their interests. 
Nevertheless he accepted the call, making a complete 
success as a church speaker and gaining many new 
friends among the delegates. Yet, in the following 
year when he is about to take part in the meeting for 
pastors in Seinojoki he asks himself: "How can I speak 
to all these pastors?” And he has later many objec- 
tions to offer on the organisation of the conference; 
what they wanted in the spiritual realm did not seem 
adequately clear, and too much time was wasted in 
drinking coffee. That the purely religious values 
were taken more into consideration at the future pas- 
tors’ conferences was to a large measure due to the 


198 Baron Paul Nicolay 


presence of Baron Nicolay. This man, familiar with 
the highest society, who had learned to use all that he 
had “not as if he were using it,” and who in concen- 
trating on the affairs of the Kingdom of God could dis- 
cover “wordliness”’ in anything as innocent in Finnish 
eyes as was wasting time on drinking coffee, must by 
his very personality here, as at student conferences, 
have had the effect of a powerful sermon. 

A wide field of activity was gradually being opened 
up to Baron Nicolay in the realm of the church. To be 
sure he had neither the time nor the strength to accept 
all the invitations he received to speak at meetings, but 
he did often speak in churches, especially in the Mis- 
sion Church in Helsingfors. It was usually Baron 
Wrede who tried to prevail on him to do so when he 
came to Helsingfors for student work. Often he stub- 
bornly resisted the attempts to entice him into a sphere 
which lay “outside his circle of responsibility.” But 
when he had once been prevailed upon to address a 
church gathering, he did his utmost here also to give 
the best he had to offer. He preferred to speak to a 
smaller group, but not at sewing societies or meetings 
with a programme and serving of tea, for he wanted to 
have his audience entirely with him. If he were 
“forced” to the pulpit he usually dismissed the event in 
a letter with the short but expressive word—“awful.” 
He did not feel himself suited to speak to a large and 
mixed audience; for he preferred to know whom he 
was addressing, whether they were educated people, 
whether the majority were real believers or merely re- 
ligiously interested. At revival meetings in the real 
sense of that word he refused, in the later years of his 


In Finland 199 


life, to speak. When urged to do so he always insisted 
that it was not in his line to take people by storm. In 
this connection he told how an Esthonian peasant 
woman prophesied of him, after a dream she had, that 
his work for God’s Kingdom would not be sowing— 
revivals—neither reaping—the joy of bringing people 
to conversion—but preparation of the field in the hearts 
of men, thus leading them to a fuller, more complete, 
and better Christianity. 

We have already seen how Baron Nicolay both sowed 
and reaped. But his work in Finland was perhaps 
more along the line indicated by the Esthonian woman 
—at least so he himself thought—and as he grew 
older he preferred to concentrate more on this type of 
work, of preparing the hearts of Christians for a more 
complete reception of the Master. When he addressed 
a group of believers on a Biblical subject he liked to 
see them with their Bibles in their hands, so that he 
might in a sense be their guide through a land which 
to him was so full of wonderful and undreamed-of 
riches. 

In order to appreciate what the Book of books was 
to him, it is only necessary to open his own Swedish 
Bible, so worn at the edges that one almost fears to 
turn the pages. Every page, every line of it tells of 
the relation which the owner of the book bore to it until 
the last. Underlinings, arrows, and all kinds of marks 
—a completely developed system of signs—give a re- 
markable appearance to the Book, and the notes in the 
margin written in different languages force the reader 
to pause before one verse and another. Close to a 
“then” isolated by a circle and introducing a subject, 


200 Baron Paul Nicolay 


we read the words "God's time.” In the seventeenth 
chapter of the Gospel of John there is a line joining all 
the references in which the significant word “one” 
occurs, and in many places there is a comparison with 
the Greek or English text. Thus we may picture how 
Paul Nicolay during his daily Morning Watch and 
many another hour in the course of the day sat bent 
over the Book, thoroughly alert and active, as in con- 
versation with his Lord, with his soul open to the in- 
fluence of His Spirit. And we can also understand 
the quiet authority with which he spoke of the con- 
tents of the Bible to others, independent of the views of 
clergy or laymen, but never spoken as if of himself. 
Bible study was the underlying factor of all his stu- 
dent work, and it was also to be the heart of all his 
church activities. This work gradually took a definite 
course, as the plan for uniting the believers within 
the congregations in “inner circles” or “congregational 
associations” engrossed his interest more and more. 
This idea, which originated with Baron K. A. Wrede, 
had been enthusiastically received by many pastors of 
the land. It was hoped that the live Christians scat- 
tered throughout a congregation might, by fellowship 
with each other, have their faith strengthened and 
grow in holiness, and at the same time become the 
salt which should gradually permeate the whole con- 
gregation. Such an idea would naturally appeal to 
Baron Nicolay. He took an active interest in the work 
of his friend in Helsingfors, and when in 1905 the 
latter wrote that he was planning to come to Wiborg 
to organise a congregational association there also, he 
was very enthusiastic about the plan. To obtain a“chain 


In Finland 201 


of people praying for the work” seemed to him to be 
the best preparation possible. “May God make plain 
your way before you. There must always be obstacles 
ii there is to be blessing. Clouds are necessary for the 
rain to fall,” he writes in this connection. And con- 
cerning the form of the work itself he adds: “If only 
there might be different groups according to the needs, 
and the Bible groups not meet in the churches, nor the 
pastors hold a monopoly on what is said.” That he 
himself should be called to participate on a large scale 
in this work had not yet occurred to Baron Nicolay. 
Baron Wrede visited Wiborg, and at a meeting on 
April 21st it was decided to organise a congregational 
association. Several Bible groups, including one for 
young women and one for older Christians, were to be 
formed, and joint monthly meetings held. But it soon 
became evident that the carrying out of the idea was 
not as easy as had been thought. To find leaders for 
the many groups seemed almost impossible; the pas- 
tors of the city who were interested in the cause were 
in need of help, and so it naturally followed that Baron 
Nicolay, during the months he spent at Monrepos, was 
drawn more closely into the work at Wiborg. He 
would either conduct a Bible class or introduce a dis- 
cussion, and his advice was often sought on many 
different matters. But it was not until conditions in 
Russia relieved him of his duties in Petrograd that he 
could devote himself in earnest to the ‘““Wiborg Con- 
gregational Association,” of which he became the soul 
during the so-called “Red period,” and the year follow- 
ing. Then did he begin to visit also other cities—Borga, 
Ekenas, Kotka—to propagate the idea which the asso- 


202 Baron Paul Nicolay 


ciation represented, and to organise new Bible groups, 
He became greatly attached to this work which brought 
him into touch with earnest Christians throughout the 
whole country. And the local pastors he usually found 
sympathetic and willing to support his endeavours. 

Thus Paul Nicolay, towards the end of his life, was 
again led into a new path, the religious individualist 
was brought into a sphere of work in which he went 
hand in hand with the servants of the State Church. 
But this did not imply that he had lost any of his 
religious independence. In this work also he remained 
himself, a man with nothing of the official about him, 
and to whom ecclesiastical forms could never become 
an object in themselves, but merely one working means 
of leading souls to Jesus Christ. And, as has already 
been said, it was just in this that his contribution to 
the church lay. How this contribution was valued in 
the church itself is shown by the quaint Finnish name 
of honour bestowed on him with great affection at the 
conference at Leppakoski in 1918—“‘Pappien Paimen,”’ 
the “Shepherd of the Pastors.” 

Another valuable contribution to the religious life 
was Paul Nicolay’s introduction of regular “meetings 
for the deepening of spiritual life,” patterned after the 
annual conferences at Keswick and Södertälje. It was 
primarily on his initiative that the first gathering of 
this kind met at Borgå in 1913. Here earnest Chris- 
tians of different denominations met to seek together 
to enter deeper into the secrets of God’s Kingdom, and 
receive more of His grace. Baron Nicolay hoped that 
much would come out of these conferences which would 
help to raise the Christian ideal and develop the spirit- 


In Finland 2.03 


ual life. The second “Keswick meeting” was held in 
September, 1919, also in Borgå. Paul Nicolay had 
lovingly prepared for it, but he was not to be permitted 
to attend it. During the days of the conference he lay 
on a bed of illness, and soon to him came the call to a 
more important and decisive meeting—the only one 
which no person can ever evade. 


CHAPTER VIII 
At Home and Among Friends 


Or March 5, 1910, Paul Nicolay lost his mother. 
His relation to her had, up to the end, been the 
same as in his younger days; he had always shown her 
deep affection and respect, and she from her side had 
supported him in all his work and difficulties with her 
advice and intercession. His strivings she had always 
fully understood and sympathised with, in spite of some 
minor differences of opinion between mother and son 
concerning certain phases of the Christian life. He 
writes of her departure in a letter to Dr. Mott: > 


“We have seen His good hand during her long 
wearisome illness, sparing her the awful sufferings 
which the doctors expected, sustaining her patience and 
faith during the times of great weakness, and giving 
her a peaceful end without pain. There is no doubt 
that it was a form of cancer, hopeless from the begin- 
ning, but without any palpable wounds or swellings. 
At first, in December, it seemed as if she were hasten- 
ing towards a near and most painful end, but home- 
opathy brought relief. The feeling did not get better, 
however, and gradually she grew weaker and weaker 
until she passed away in slumber. A few days before 
her end she said: ‘How delightful it would be to fall 
asleep on earth and awake in glory.’ The last words 

1 Quoted from the original eae letter. 


At Home and Among Friends 205 


I heard from her lips, the day before her departure, 
were: “God bless you.’ . . . We feel very peaceful, 
fully persuaded that it is God’s doing, and that He 
does all things well and for the best. Last Wednesday 
we buried our Mother on our burial-island near Wiborg 
in Finland.” 


Paul Nicolay had a strong presentiment that the 
separation from his mother would not be for long, 
and he often felt after her death a sense of her near- 
ness. In spite of the quiet assurance that “this was the 
work of God,” the event affected him deeply. But yet 
it did not hinder him on the day after her death, from 
giving an address to Russian students, though he did 
so “with aching head and empty brain.” The address 
was not powerful, but the rumour of the speaker’s loss 
spread among the students, and his self-mastery im- 
pressed them more deeply than the most brilliant elo- 
quence. The work must always take the foremost place 
in his life. “What I now most desire is to seek God’s 
glory and interest above all else and fulfil the work 
which He has given me to do,” he writes in September 
of the same year to a Finnish friend. “I believe that 
the greatness and depth of Christ’s life is due to the 
one great purpose for which he lived—‘T have glori- 
fied Thee on earth; I have finished the work which 
Thou gavest me to do’ (John 17:4). If only this were 
so in our lives! How zealous we would then be in 
spreading God’s Kingdom, and how differently we 
would look on all failures, hardships, temptations, and 
suffering. . . . But how infinitely far from there I 
feel myself to be. This would be a life with one pur- 


206 Baron Paul Nicolay 


pose, one road, and one heart. May the Lord educate 
us to it.” 

When Paul Nicolay’s life is viewed in its entirety, 
one realises that he had advanced pretty far in God’s 
school along the line discussed above. His interest 
had gradually become centred around one great pur- 
pose, his strength implicitly consecrated to the work 
required by this purpose, so that it is hard to distin- 
guish the boundary between his private life and his 
public work. His family must have accustomed them- 
selves early to their only half possessing him. After 
his mother’s death he continued to make his home 
with his two older sisters—the youngest had left home 
in 1890 to marry Count Konstantin von der Pahlen, 
a landowner from Courland—and he was devoted to 
them and conscious of their sympathetic solicitude for 
him and their interest in all his projects. But he who 
gives himself unreservedly to a great cause must to a 
certain extent become isolated even from his nearest 
and dearest. And this was also Paul Nicolay’s experi- 
ence. In St. Petersburg, as at Monrepos, he remained 
primarily the man in the ranks, who was not his own 
master and might never for a moment forget to obey 
higher commands. 

Paul Nicolay had received in life much of what is 
considered to constitute happiness—social position, 
wealth, home conditions, all of which seemed calculated 
to make easy the way for him. But personal hap- 
piness was never permitted to become the aim of his 
strivings. What he possessed of temporal goods he 
regarded as a talent entrusted to him, and to his con- 
scientious nature the responsibility of it seemed often 


At Home and Among Friends 207 


heavy. To his many dependents and servants he re- 
garded himself to be in material as well as spiritual 
debt, and his wealth he felt was for him to administer 
and not to use for his own pleasure. When, towards 
the close of his life his economic position was 1m- 
paired by the Revolution, he considered selling the 
suburbs of Wiborg which belonged to Monrepos. But 
two questions concerned him most: how to arrange the 
sale so that his tenants should not suffer, and how to 
use aright the large means which would thus be his. For 
himself he was extremely economical, as we have seen 
in the case of his yacht. 

In early years Baron Nicolay, guided by his Bible 
(especially Deut. 14:22), set aside a tenth of his in- 
come for religious and charitable objects. But this 
sum soon proved to be inadequate. In the first place 
his own work—his travels and the Russian Student 
Movement to which he gave substantial financial aid” 
—required considerable expenditures. Liberally also 
did he support foreign Missionary work for which he 
harboured a deep interest, and especially for the “China 
Inland Mission,” with whose work he had become fa- 
miliar through his English friends. Like many an- 
other wealthy person he received many visits and let- 
ters telling him of real or pretended need. As a rule 
he felt that he had no right to leave a request of this 
kind unnoticed, and usually tried to verify conditions 
described, turning to trusted friends for enlightenment 


1 Also the Finnish Student Christian Movement received financial 
aid from Baron Nicolay, although on a smaller scale. At his death 
this Movement received 30,000 Fmk willed to it. The Salvation 
Army’s work in the slums of Wiborg had also a staunch friend 
in him, 


208 Baron Paul Nicolay 


or advice when unable to unravel them himself. If 
the needy person lived in Helsingfors he would direct 
his inquiries to K. A. Wrede, who, through his con- 
" nections with the City Mission, could often assist him 
in his investigations. It pained him to see how often 
people tried to impose on him, and he was especially 
agitated by the number who came to him pretending 
to be Christians in the hope that that would further 
their cause. When there was real need, Baron Nico- 
lay seldom showed any unwillingness to help. Thus 
the circle of his private charity was widened until, as 
far as his friends could see, a very large part of his 
income went in one way or another to helping needy 
people or beneficial enterprises. 

It is hard for any one to say how widespread this 
charity really was; for Paul Nicolay followed liter- 
ally the admonition in Christ’s Sermon on the Mount, 
to give alms so that the left hand should not know 
what the right was doing. The help he gave was not 
in the form of startling donations written up in the 
papers or praised in brilliant speeches. Paul Nicolay 
was certainly not among those who receive all their 
reward on earth. Pastor H. Valkama, who as pastor 
in the suburbs of Wiborg had learned to know the 
owner of Monrepos, writes: “He said comparatively 
little about love, but he acted much more in the spirit 
of love. For innumerable are the distinctly material 
contributions through which he quietly brought joy 
and sunshine to needy abodes. He made no list of 
these his charitable deeds, nor did he permit any one 
to do so. But the Father of all orphans and Protector 
of widows remembers them still.” 





BARONESS SOPHIE NICOLAY 
(The Mother of Paul Nicolay) 





At Home and Among Friends 209 


Naturally a very large part of Baron Nicolay’s at- 
tention concerned his dependents in the suburbs of 
Wiborg—Pikiruukki, Saunalahti, Likolampi, and Sor- 
vali. As far as his time permitted he was a good land- 
lord to them. He was conscientious, serious, and in- 
corruptibly just in his relation to the leaseholders of 
his land and to his workmen. Always ready to help 
where help was needed, he required from all in return 
precision in their work. The honesty and punctual- 
ity which were his he sought to instil in those around 
him. Thus he, who was usually amiable, might be 
severe with any leaseholder who, without informing 
him in advance, neglected to pay his rent at the ap- 
pointed time. If any were unable to pay promptly he 
expected to be notified of it, and when that happened 
he considered the matter settled for the time being. 
It was carelessness and indifference which aroused his 
deep displeasure. Even the servants of the house rec- 
ognised the Baron’s requirements of punctuality, which 
they often found hard to meet. But many a time they 
have stood blushing with embarrassment before their 
master while he, sterner far with himself than with 
others, in his courteous way apologised for some triv- 
ial neglect of which he felt himself guilty. “How 
often had I not been more careless myself!” said a 
servant maid in speaking of the Baron after his death. 
As another characteristic especially marked in him she 
mentioned his patience, that “jewel’’ which he himself 
had possibly regarded as the most difficult for him to 
acquire. 

Thus Baron Nicolay accomplished much good at 
Monrepos, not merely through what he did, but also 


210 Baron Paul Nicolay 


through what he was. Eagerly did he observe the 
spiritual growth of his dependents. When in his later 
years he visited the estate, he attended every Sunday 
morning the modest little chapel of Hiekka. “He 
came there in prayer,” writes Pastor Valkama, “lis- 
tened prayerfully to the words of the preacher, and 
prayed for him.” And in this way he was brought 
into intimate fellowship with the pastor as well as 
the congregation, and soon on his own initiative began 
an organised work to gather the young people in 
Hiekka for prayer and Bible study. This work is still 
being carried on both in Hiekka and Likolampi, and 
its extension into the other suburbs has also been 
planned. When the question of building a meeting 
house in Sorvali was brought up, Baron Nicolay was 
enthusiastic about the idea, donated the ground for 
the building, and followed with interest the further de- 
velopment of the enterprise. 

Long before this time Baron Nicolay had started 
the daily custom of assembling the Finnish speaking 
inhabitants of Monrepos at half past eight every morn- 
ing for prayer. He would read a portion from the 
New Testament, and himself lead the singing with his 
unmusical but fairly true voice. In the nineties he had 
also begun to conduct morning prayers for the Russian 
speaking servants of the house. His Mother, and later 
his sisters, assembled for prayers all, both guests and 
servants, who understood German. Thus the entire 
household was gradually permeated by the spirit of 
its owner. 

It is evident that the months spent each year at 
Monrepos were far from being a time of complete rest 


At Home and Among Friends 211 


for Baron Nicolay. These visits to his ancestral home 
were also trying on account of the unsuitability of the 
climate, owing to its low situation near a bay, Suom- 
envedenpohja, from which damp mists rose morning 
and evening. Naturally this was not wholesome to 
one who, like Baron Nicolay, suffered from malaria. 
In the autumn of 1910 he writes:* “I get along as 
well as I can here at Monrepos. There is something 
in the water and air that has an injurious effect on 
me, and I am often dissatisfied with it and with my- 
self. I think at times that it is God’s will that I should 
not be rooted to this spot lest I should leave the stu- 
dent work in Russia.” This thought, that there might 
be a special significance in the discomfort experienced 
at Monrepos, had already occurred to him when in 
1908 he asks himself: "Why should I not have a home 
where I could live?’ He adds, “If it is for student 
work I am to suffer, then student work must be worth 
ity. 

Thus Baron Nicolay’s fondness for the place which 
his forefathers had loved, and where he himself had 
spent so many happy hours in his youth, diminished 
with the years. In the beautifying of the parks he 
took no interest, and was content to preserve its al- 
ready existing constructions, which was burdensome 
enough in itself. The park that was open to the pub- 
lic became a source of sorrow on account of the van- 
dalism perpetrated by some of the promenaders. 
Benches were overturned or moved from their places, 
the walls of the pavilions covered with inscriptions, 
and monuments injured—even the crosses on the 


1 Quoted from his English diary. 


217, Baron Paul Nicolay 


graves at Ludwigstein had more than once been mo- 
lested. Therefore Baron Nicolay, who longed to be- 
lieve in the good in human nature, was depressed at 
Monrepos by being forced into painful contact with 
the bad and unsightly side of human nature. 

It can hardly, therefore, be wondered at if at Mon- 
repos he felt more tired, less able to resist his own 
weakness, less “in his element” than in many other 
places. Here also did he manfully strive to fulfil his 
duty, but the battle was often hard, and the remark 
of a friend that he did not have any joyful feeling of 
being at home was perhaps not altogether unwarranted. 
The cheerfulness which was one of his greatest charms 
was often completely lacking when on his estate. In 
the company of both his sisters he spent many a happy 
and peaceful hour, but when of an autumn he would 
visit the old house alone he was especially overpow- 
ered by its inherent sadness. In moments spent alone 
in the little upstairs room, which the master of Mon- 
repos had chosen to be his own and where the simple 
cross above the bed was one of the few adornments, 
there could arise in his heart a burning longing for 
those treasures of this world which had not been 
granted him to possess—a loving wife and happy chil- 
dren. Thus in the autumn of 1913 he writes:1* “All 
these days I have such a gnawing pain of loneliness, re- 
gret that I did not marry when I was young. It seems 
so unnatural not to have one’s own home. But it is too 
late for regrets. If I had married, I should never 
have had the interest and perseverance and means to 
work for the Student Movement. Maybe there is re- 


1 Quoted from his English diary. 


At Home and Among Friends 213 


ward in the next world, but why a reward when there 
is no merit? Maybe this gnawing pain of loneliness 
is to hurry me to St. Petersburg and stimulate me for 
the work. The vine is pruned to make it concentrate its 
vital sap in one direction. It looks as if God had 
pruned me, cutting off other prospects, to make me go 
in one direction. Maybe one must bear a wound in 
one’s breast to drop sap and be sensitive and fruit- 
ful. . . Christ says: “Whosoever loses home . . . or 
wife . . . for my sake... .’* Anyhow, my loss has 
been the means of helping some others morally and 
spiritually, and that is some consolation.” 

It was the thought of the Student Movement that 
helped him through these dark hours, his oft recurring 
consciousness that he must bleed in order to bless. So 
now, as in 1899, he restrained himself from these dark 
thoughts. Although he would at times speak of him- 
self as a misanthrope, he never let bitterness be rooted 
in his heart. He who led a solitary life was brought 
by his relation to God into an exceptionally warm fel- 
lowship with many around him. Paul Nicolay was 
able to give much, and he also received much in re- 
turn. It is impossible to speak of him without at least 
mentioning the friends in whose affection and whose 
hospitable homes he found a compensation for what 
he himself was deprived of, something of the sunshine 
which had not fallen across his own path. With a 
noble nature’s capacity for sympathy, he could enjoy 
to the full the happiness of his friends, and never was 
" 1 Of significance is a note in Baron Nicolay’s Bible at the con- 
clusion to Matt. 19:29. "God's servant will surely be more than 


compensated for what he loses, but do not think about it. Don’t 
bargain with God.” 


214 Baron Paul Nicolay 


his face so illumined as when visiting them in their 
homes. 

Among these, Mr. Wilder’s home in Norway occu- 
pies one of the foremost places. In the beautiful villa 
“Norheim” at Veldre, near Lake Mjösen, Baron Nico- 
lay felt wonderfully at home. Every one, who wan- 
dered up the woodland trail which leads from Veldre 
station through dark pine-clad heights up to the white 
house surrounded by leafy silver birches and the gar- 
den bright with flowers,’ has experienced the feeling 
of home and peace which meets one even on arrival, 
and realises how this place could offer rest and hap- 
piness to all who visited here. It was not the beauty 
of nature and the lovely view over the lake alone, 
nor the clear mild air, but the warmth of the recep- 
tion by host and hostess, and above all the feeling 
that this home was “built upon a rock” which 
brought a beneficial balm to the soul. The home was 
open to the people of the countryside and to their chil- 
dren, and it also became a natural place of meeting for 
all foreign Christian workers who passed through 
Norway. Around the cause of God’s Kingdom it cen- 
tred. ‘Work, study, play, being out in beauteous na- 
ture, all is done in the happy, quiet spirit which knows 
that God is the first and the last.” This was an ideal 
atmosphere for Paul Nicolay. But of greater value 
than all else was the fellowship with Mr. Wilder him- 
self, whose happy, harmonious temperament seemed to 
supplement his own which was more marked by strug- 
gle, and there existed between these two men a deep 


1From “Ad Lucem.” November 5, 1910—“A Visit in Mr. 
Wilder’s Home.” 


At Home and Among Friends 215 


and spiritual friendship. ‘We seemed to know each 
other and understand each other fully,’ wrote Mr. 
Wilder after his friend’s departure. “The seasons 
spent together in Norway meant more to me than 
words can express—those long walks under the pines, 
in which we shared each other’s experiences and spoke 
of the deep things of life and what Christ meant to 
ish 

But if the older members of the family at Veldre 
were happy in their fellowship with Baron Nicolay, no 
less was his society appreciated by the youngest in the 
home. He was very fond of children, and the four 
little girls at Norheim could always count on him for 
a lively playmate. After a serious Bible study he 
would go with them to finish a paper kite, or organise 
a battle with the beloved fir cones as weapons, and 
great was the children’s delight. At meals he could 
with true boyish recklessness strew sugar on the eggs 
or pepper on a dish which was meant to be without 
this condiment, and in the evenings he had perchance 
a surprise in store—fireworks, which were exultantly 
hailed by all. Is it strange that the children knew how 
to appreciate their dear “‘Pluncle,” as they called Baron 
Nicolay—a name formed by the combination of his 
Christian name and the English “uncle’’? 

In Finland also did Paul Nicolay have friends in 
whose company he felt entirely at home. The names 
of both Barons Henrik and Karl August Wrede have 
already often been mentioned, and we have seen what 
it meant to Baron Nicolay to be associated with the 
latter in his work. They had met in 1894 at a time 
when Baron K. A. Wrede had not yet decided for 


216 Baron Paul Nicolay 


Christ, and Nicolay’s life and words were a great help 
to him, not only at that time but during his whole life 
of service for Christ. Similarly Baron Wrede’s friend- 
ship was also of great help to Paul Nicolay. They 
often met, and became comrades in their work, in the 
most beautiful sense of the word, at the Finnish Stu- 
dent Conferences and later in the field of church work. 
Just because their development was at first in some- 
what different directions, though their purpose was al- 
ways the same, the outcome of their fellowship was 
still richer. The days Baron Nicolay spent with K. A. 
Wrede, in Haga near Helsingfors in the winter and 
in the summer at Karlstorp near Wredeby, he always 
looked back on with joy; and in times of long separa- 
tion a generous exchange of letters kept him in touch 
with his friend and his family, “Paulus” and his “dear 
Titus” as the letters usually read. 

There was yet another spot in Finland where Baron 
Nicolay was the most cherished of friends, and where 
he always loved to visit because of the unfeigned and 
unlimited sympathy and understanding which he found 
there. This spot was Toivola, the home of Baron 
Henrik Wrede and his “God-sent,” as he at times called 
the Baroness Ellen Wrede. Here, as at N orheim, he 
need not subject himself to any restraint, and, as there, 
he could inhale at Toivola pure rest-giving country 
air and bask in the sunshine of family happiness and 
friendliness. After a stay at a health resort abroad 
or in Finland, he liked to come for an “after cure” 
to Toivola. Many anecdotes which his friends can tell 
reveal the feeling of being at home which was his 
when here; how in the evenings he demanded the right 


‘At Home and Among Friends 217 


to prepare and serve tea, an accomplishment which he 
had acquired in Russia and England, often going to 
the kitchen himself to fetch the tea water ; how at every 
visit he would accompany his host to the garden or 
chicken coop to share his joy in every new or old 
sight. He did this more usually from sympathy 
with his friend’s enterprises, for he himself had little 
interest in country establishments. The only animals 
he really knew anything about were dogs, of which 
Monrepos has always had a large supply, while Toi- 
vola made a specialty of fine varieties of horses, cat- 
tle, and poultry. He would often amuse himself 
watching ducklings and goslings splashing in the river, 
but the details concerning the different breeds of birds 
and cattle did not interest him. Neither was he fa- 
miliar with plant life, and had often occasion to be 
ashamed of his superficial knowledge of Botany. 
There were other phenomena of nature that interested 
him, and he loved on a clear autumn evening to study 
the stars, with which he was very familiar. When 
Baron Wrede reproached him for his lack of interest 
in agriculture, he sought on his side to arouse his 
friend’s enthusiasm for the marvellous discoveries in 
the field of science, which he had always eagerly fol- 
lowed. 

At Toivola he had also a friend in the young daugh- 
ter of the house, whom he gladly helped with her 
schoolwork, not only in language study but also with 
her assignments in Geography, Physics, and Mathe- 
matics. Several hours a day did Baron Nicolay devote 
here to his work, but he found time to enjoy the out- 
of-doors as well. Trips on skis in winter, and in sum- 


218 Baron Paul Nicolay 


mer quiet hours by the river with a fishing rod or 
walks in the lovely pine woods were refreshing, and 
he treasured them still more highly as they were of 
necessity a rare occurrence. 

But not as the entertaining and friendly man of the 
world do his friends at Toivola like to recall him, but 
as the quiet, earnest “man of God” who by his prayer, 
his conversation and his whole personality opened up 
to them new vistas in the world of the Spirit. Such 
also is the memory left by him in the many homes 
abroad and in Finland which he visited during his mis- 
sionary journeys. This memory is preserved as a pre- 
cious treasure by many more friends than a biography 
can mention. And to him did the loving reception he 
met with everywhere become part of the reward which 
the Lord, with whom he never bargained, with gener- 
ous hand bestowed upon His servant. 


CHAPTERS 
The Time of Departure 
“For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain.” + 


1 January, 1917, Baron Nicolay lay severely ill at 

Monrepos. During his illness his thoughts were 
continually centred around the work in Russia which 
he had not yet been forced to give up.2 “Who will 
fill my place for the students if I am called away?” he 
writes in his diary. “If I die as I am now, it would 
mean that God could not attain more with me in this 
life. It would be a rather sad end of an at first seem- 
ingly promising life... . It is a solemn thought to 
me to be near my end, maybe, and still such a bad and 
poor Christian.” And when his health was slightly 
improved he prayed that God “might let him keep that 
sensitive, receptive heart” which had been his during 
the days of his illness. 

His health remained poor for some time, and as be- 
fore he was afraid of tuberculosis; but the examination 
revealed nothing of the kind. He felt very tired, and 
the notes in his diary show that he had not abandoned 
all thoughts of death. On his birthday, July 14th, he 
writes:* “If it is God’s will I would gladly leave this 
earth and go to Him. I would also gladly live on if 

1These words from Phil. 1 are intended to form the inscrip- 


tion on the monument to be raised on Paul Nicolay’s grave. 
2 Quoted from his English diary. 
219 


220 Baron Paul Nicolay 


only I can work with full power and not half speed 
like this last year.” This was perhaps an unconscious 
echo of Paul’s words in the first chapter of Philip- 
pians (v. 22). And as to the great apostle when he 
wrote these words to the Church at Philippi, so also to 
Paul Nicolay did the foreboding of a fast approaching 
departure become linked to the thought of meeting the 
Lord he served. “If Christ should come to-morrow 
it would be my only consolation to know that I belong 
to Him,” he wrote in September. The conception of 
Christ’s second coming which might possibly be in the 
near future, perhaps in his own lifetime, had become 
more and more a reality to him. 

When this conception—in the year 1910—first be- 
came precious to him, he had no desire to make it the 
object of public discussion and interpretation. “I be- 
lieve like you that it is better not to say too much 
about the Lord’s return, but to be prepared for it my- 
self,” he wrote in 1915 to K. A. Wrede. “But when 
we meet an earnest Christian it is our duty to help him 
to get light on this matter, so as to await that day 
with a joyful earnestness, without fear or trembling.”’ 
The development of the war, the great political up- 
heavals, the ferment of all minds, the shameful tri- 
umph of evil in all spheres, strengthened him still 
more in the belief that Christ Himself must interfere 
in this world tragedy, that the promise of His return 
to save His people was now about to be fulfilled. 

Baron Nicolay came into close touch with the ter- 
rors of the time. Thus, he once found himself by 
chance beside the bloody corpse of his murdered cousin, 
General Stackelberg, on the streets in Petrograd, and 


The Time of Departure yt 


was immediately subject to arrest by the soldiers. 
It was not fear of personal suffering that drove him to 
seek comfort in a superhuman hope:* “The peace of 
God continues to surround us,” he wrote in March, 
while the roar of cannon filled the city. But he was 
greatly pained by seeing the power of sin in the 
lives of men. With a “joyful earnestness” during the 
last years of his life he therefore awaited the great 
event. And when from reading a study on the book 
of Revelation the thought had come to him that it 
should be on the day of the Jewish New Year Feast, 
he would yearly at this time write his closest friends: 
“Do you remember that the ‘critical day’ will soon be 
here again?” 

There was nothing restless or fantastical about this 
expectation, but rather something of the childish 
Christmas spirit which cast a cheerful, hallowed glow 
over the sorrowful and work-filled week-day. And 
gradually it came to be a vital matter to him to lead 
others also into the way of waiting and watching. We 
read in a letter to Mr. Wood, May 1917, a part of 
which has already been quoted :? 


“This most terrible war seems to be drawing to a 
close on account of prostration of all parties and lack 
of food. Some signs seem to indicate the approach- 
ing coming of our Lord, the immense growth of so- 
cial democracy and anarchy of an extreme anti-Chris- 
tian kind, and on the other hand, in this country (Rus- 
sia) many hearts thirsting for the Gospel and free ac- 


1 Quoted from his English diary. 
2 Quoted from the original English. 


222 Baron Paul Nicolay 


cess everywhere. Do you know that the whole Mo- 
hammedan World is expecting the coming of Jesus 
Christ who, they say, ‘did not die on the cross but was 
taken up to heaven and will return to reign on earth 
as a Moslem prince, will kill the antichrist, and will 
die and be buried in Medina next to Mohammed’? 
And do you know that the Buddhist world expects a 
reincarnation of Buddha under the name of Metteya 
(Messiah) who is to be the personification of love? 
Pity the Christians seem not to reckon with this com- 
ing event, at least not the church at large.” 


It was as if a quiet concentration of power, a prepa- 
ration for the storms of the coming year, was now 
taking place in Paul Nicolay’s soul. Many who met 
him at Runni, where he went for his health in 1917, 
received an ineffaceable impression of him. Little did 
he know when he returned to Monrepos that his an- 
cestral estate was to become his only home until the 
time of his death. He had profited by his stay at 
Runni, but the needed rest after it he found as hard to 
obtain that autumn as did any one else. The restless- 
ness of the time burst irresistibly over the old estate 
with its peaceful traditions. Even during the summer 
all imperial busts and statues had had to be removed 
from the park, as one of them had been smashed to 
pieces. But, before long, events far more dreadful were 
to take place in the close vicinity of Monrepos. Sep- 
tember 11th, a Russian artillery captain was hung by 
the soldiers in the wood outside the park, and not long 
after, twenty-seven other officers shared this terrible 
fate. Even to Baron Nicolay’s home did soldiers come 


The Time of Departure 223 


“in search of officers,” and once actually for the pur- 
pose of arresting him himself, but on this occasion one 
of the Russian workmen on the estate succeeded in 
averting the danger from his master. 

During the November strike* Baron Nicolay was 
very active, speaking at the request of the “Congrega- 
tional Association” at Wiborg several times to smaller 
groups as well as to a larger audience. He now also 
began to hold a series of Bible studies on the Epistle 
to the Philippians, that epistle of suffering and vic- 
torious joy which had absorbed him so long, and to 
which he had written a commentary for the Russian 
students similar to his “hand-book” on the Gospel of 
Mark. In the worst of the “November days” discon- 
tinuing the meetings had been seriously considered, but 
decided against. Many an evening did Baron Nicolay 
walk alone through the dark woods of evil repute on 
his way to and from the city, and he rejoiced that God 
kept him throughout from fear. 

“We are attending God’s school, and learning to 
have faith without sight,” he wrote K. A. Wrede, when 
the strike was at last over. “It is a precious lesson to 
learn that we can in times of real danger or need 
actually rest in peace, because God takes care of His 
children. We are continually being reminded that the 
presence, protection and faithfulness of the Lord are a 
reality.” 

Paul Nicolay now felt more than ever before that he 
must "be the mouth of the Lord and proclaim His mes- 
sage.” In Wiborg he not only conducted Bible stud- 


1A universal labour strike in connection with the Bolsheviks in 
Petrograd, when the Reds in many places first took the power 
into their hands. 


224 Baron Paul Nicolay 


ies, but gave lectures and introduced a discussion on 
“What demands does this time make on a Christian?” 
At the beginning of December he spoke in the Rus- 
sian Institute of Science in the city on the World’s 
Student Christian Federation, and towards the close 
of the month visited Petrograd where he gave an ad- 
dress on John the Baptist. Although he enjoyed being 
far from the throngs of this great city, he hoped that 
the stay at Monrepos might be only a temporary respite 
and that “the Lord next year should again want to 
make use of His weak servant.” On January 24, 1918, 
he again went to Petrograd, this time to speak in the 
city condemned to unheard-of sufferings on Revelation 
21:5—‘Behold I make all things new’—his last 
message of hope to the people among whom he had 
laboured so long. 

On New Year’s Eve Baron Nicolay had written: * 
“So ends this dreadful year, the worst any of us has 
seen, and yet a year during which God’s goodness and 
faithfulness have never failed us.” The new year 
was to become even worse than the preceding one, but 
the same peace enveloped him, and God used his serv- 
ant unceasingly. As all the ways leading out were 
gradually closed, Baron Nicolay devoted himself more 
to the work of Wiborg’s “Congregational Assocta- 
tion.” He concluded his Bible studies on the Philip- 
pians at the regular Thursday meetings, and began a 
series of studies on the parables of Jesus—Luke 15, 
the wedding feast, the sower, the husbandman and the 
vineyard, the ten virgins, the ten pounds—which con- 
tinued until May, through the entire “Period of the 


1 Quoted from his English diary. 








HE GRAVE 





The Time of Departure 225 


Red Terror” which in Wiborg began in the end of 
January and lasted to the closing days of April. Of 
his experiences at this time Baron Nicolay wrote on 
February 13th to Dr. Mott:* 


“We are living in awful times, as you well know, 
both in Russia and also here in Finland where we have 
civil war. The south, including Abo, Helsingfors, 
Tammerfors, Kotka, and Wiborg, are in the hands 
of the Red guards, twin brothers of the Russian Bol- 
sheviks, who are introducing here the same monstrous 
socialistic theories as there. . . . To the eye of faith 
this is a necessary judgment of God which will not 
continue forever. Human life is very cheap now, both 
in Russia and in Finland. It is very unpleasant to feel 
yourself a captive of a revolutionary mob and its 
theoretical leaders, and to know that actual famine is 
threatening you even now; and yet it is a school of 
faith. We have as yet suffered no want and have been 
protected in a very providential way. God will, we 
trust, remove this scourge very quickly, as soon as His 
time will be ripe. God is ploughing Russia and Fin- 
land; that is a sure sign that He intends to sow.” 


As is apparent in the letter, Baron Nicolay did not 
have to suffer personally at the hands of the “Reds.” 
To be sure the Red guards had an investigation made 
of the house at Monrepos by a man who was born on 
the estate, but they behaved properly and even seemed 
embarrassed, perhaps because the guide who was 
friendly towards the owner of the place was loath to 
make the investigation. Baron Nicolay was allowed 

1 Quoted from the original English letter, 


226 Baron Paul Nicolay 


to continue his religious work unhindered, and he con- 
sidered this a great privilege. He was glad to be able 
to concentrate on one form of work, and later he 
wrote that from a physical point of view this had been 
been the quietest winter he had ever known, for he 
had no need to travel nor divide his strength. 

He was happy to see how the need brought many 
souls nearer to God. “During the fire of the Revo- 
lution,” he later wrote, “the hearts of men were un- 
easy and the churches were filled as never before. I 
was forced many a time to preach from the pulpit; 
and although I did not then relish it, I now recall 
with gratitude the time with Pastor N., when we to- 
gether served men in their need.” The work he re- 
ferred to consisted of a series of addresses delivered 
in the church, half apologetic in character—as the talk 
on “Two cogent reasons for belief in Christ’’—and 
in part purely edifying—as “Christ in the storm.” 
These addresses were attended by many who had never 
been regular churchgoers nor eager to attend Bible 
classes and congregational evening meetings ; and some- 
thing of the reality of God faced them in the quiet 
faith of the speaker and his absolute certainty of the 
“things which are not seen.” 

But Baron Nicolay did not neglect the Russians who 
were driven by the storms of the time to Wiborg. 
Among them was the wife of Colonel Paschkov who 
had settled in a villa, near the city, where the fugi- 
tives would gather for prayer and meetings, which 
were often led by Baron Nicolay. Thus was estab- 
lished a religious union which lasted even after his 
death and the departure of Madame Paschkov. 


The Time of Departure 227 


The universally abnormal conditions began to seem 
more and more oppressive as Spring approached. In 
April came the great reaction, bringing relief but also 
in its wake new suffering and new sorrow. On the 
24th the “White Guards” laid siege to Wiborg, and 
on the following day came crowds of fugitives, mostly 
poor women and children, from the surrounding dis- 
tricts to seek shelter at Monrepos. Here for several 
days they were cared for, and under the severest can- 
nonading, when shells exploded close to the building, 
Baron Nicolay read to his agitated guests the forty- 
sixth Psalm—‘God is our refuge and strength.” As 
far as Monrepos was concerned the words of the Psalm 
were literally fulfilled, for not even a windowpane 
was broken during the bombardment. 

On the morning of the 29th, Baron Nicolay was 
summoned, and saw to his amazement a company of 
young men in grey uniforms, the White Guard of the 
Kajana regiment. Wiborg was captured and the great 
tension was over; but the ensuing days were very hard 
for Baron Nicolay. News of murders in Wiborg and 
other cities now began to reach him, and he heard about 
many victims of the battle. He was greatly moved to 
learn of the death of both of the brothers Bruun, sons 
of an old friend of his. As soon as possible he went 
to see Baron Henrik Wrede in his home, and rejoiced 
to find him safe in spite of his nearness to the sorely 
afflicted Kouvala. But there were many gruesome 
deeds of which he learned here. 

That all unrighteousness had not been overcome by 
the victory of the ‘Whites,’ Paul Nicolay with his 
clear insight into true values could not fail to see. 


225 Baron Paul Nicolay 


Even in the first days after the capture of Wiborg he 
witnessed some terrible scenes, as when on his way 
from Monrepos to the city he saw how the victors 
cut down a number of Russians, among whom were 
many innocent ones, who waved their handkerchiefs 
in despair as they implored mercy. The sight of 
prisoners being hurried to the barracks made him think 
seriously. He was in his whole nature and point of 
view essentially a people’s man, and the Christian was 
stronger in him than the aristocrat; and although he 
realised that justice must have its way, it grieved him 
to see how vengeance had a free hand at a time like this. 
He therefore, along with the Chancellor of Commerce, 
William Hackman, had published on April 30th in the 
Wiborg newspaper the following appeal to those in 
power: 


“At this solemn hour when much is at stake, may 
voices be raised in a plea for passionless measures and 
wise discernment in punishment towards those of the 
children of our land who are guilty. 

“That society must be freed from unscrupulous per- 
petrators of violence is a sad necessity. But the 
greater part of the workers now imprisoned are not 
among them. Many of our workers belonged to the 
Red guard, being forced to join because they had 
formerly belonged to the Labour Union. They had 
been led astray by agitators, and now they have re- 
pented deeply and are embittered against their lead- 
ers, 

“Would that our liberators and we ourselves might 
treat this class with wise forbearance and humanity! If 


The Time of Departure 229 


these labourers be blindly punished their embitterment 
will be great and the wound within our society aggra- 
vated; but if they be treated with wise forbear- 
ance and humanity, one step will be gained towards 
the restoration of inner peace, the diminishing of class 
hatred, and the rebuilding of society. 

“May vengeance and hatred not darken the dawn 
of our young and independent government.” 


In his personal relation to his dependents Baron 
Nicolay, says Pastor Valkama, never allowed himself 
to be influenced by their political views, when it was a 
case of giving them the material help they needed. 
The order issued by the authorities for all Russians to 
leave the country within ten days seemed to him a 
bit of “madness.”’ Among his six hundred and four- 
teen leaseholders one hundred and fifteen were Rus- 
sians, whose pitiable plight aroused his deep sympathy, 
so that he decided to await the Commandant in order 
to plead their cause before him. 

But in spite of all this Baron Nicolay did not give 
up his religious work. He felt that he dared not do 
this. ‘Rast’ ich, so rost” ich,” is engraved on an an- 
cient German sword, we read in his diary. During the 
summer he read proof for the Swedish translation of 
his Bible study on Philippians which was now to be 
printed. After concluding his talks on the Parables 
of Jesus, May 16th, he had undertaken new tasks, was 
studying the Epistle of James, and delivered at the 
deaconess’ home a series of expositions on the Prophet 
Elijah. 

In August he was invited to attend the conference 


230 Baron Paul Nicolay 


in Södertälje, and wrote to Mr. Sloan: “TI am already 
looking forward to the Södertälje conference in 
Sweden, to which Prince Bernadotte and Dr. Fries so 
kindly invited me. > To bring together and help 
strengthen the spiritual life of ‘God’s scattered chil- 
dren’ is something for which Christ died. I feel that 
we ought to have more of this kind of work. We 
often hold evangelistic meetings within and outside the 
church, but we ought to organise a series of four or 
five meetings for the deepening of the spiritual life of 
God’s people. Nothing of this kind has as yet really 
been started. The holding of conferences should be 
one progressive step in this direction. For the pres- 
ent this is almost, if not entirely, impossible on ac- 
count of the difficulty of securing food for a large 
number of people. . . . Everything is being turned 
upside down in this world, and the return of our Lord 
Jesus seems more and more to become the solution to- 
ward which all the confusion is moving. It does not 
look as if this terrible war, which has been called a 
suicide of Europe, will soon come to an end. We 
ought better to understand the possibility that the time 
of the heathen is drawing to an end.” 

In the same letter Baron Nicolay informs Mr. Sloan 
about his friends in Russia, and continues: “It is ter- 
rible to live in a land of anarchy. You learn to under- 
stand in a very real way our Lord’s words in Matt. 
24: 12—‘Because iniquity shall abound, the love of 
many shall wax cold.’”’ 

That the war, “the suicide of Europe,” became to 
Paul Nicolay, as to all thinking men, the typification 
of all evil, need hardly be mentioned. But he realised, 


The Time of Departure 20 


as has already been shown, that the war could become 
an instrument in the hand of God, a means of accom- 
plishing His great purpose for humanity. Individual- 
ist as he was, he would not take a definite stand with 
reference to the question of war; that was a matter he 
felt that every one should decide for himself according 
to God's special guidance. Thus a pacifist he was not; 
for he saw in the Sermon on the Mount a standard 
for the private life of a Christian. 

Baron Nicolay hoped greatly for intervention by the 
Allies against the Bolsheviks. He did not live to see 
the uselessness of material arms against them, nor the 
definite degeneracy of the “peace.” But he realised 
even now, that God knew best how long Russia must 
be ploughed before “His seed would be driven deep 
enough down,” and that “His time” could not be has- 
tened by artificial means. 

In November in a letter to Mr. Sloan Baron Nicolay 
gives an account of his impressions of the Conference 
at Södertälje, which was held that month. He speaks 
of the great joy of fellowship with other Christians, 
among whom Dr. and Mrs. Fries were mentioned, and 
says “it was such a treat.” Although he had a high 
opinion of some of the speakers, like Prince Bernadotte, 
he felt that the conference could not be compared with 
“what he had seen and heard at Keswick in former 
years.” He mentions in conclusion the opportunities 
for work in Finland :? 


“New doors are opening for me in Finland for re- 
ligious activity. In the Swedish-speaking parishes we 


1 Quoted from the original English letter. 


232 Baron Paul Nicolay 


want to stir up spiritual life and form the would-be 
Christians into inner circles, which would meet to- 
gether, and have Bible study groups, and keep warm. 
At present they are lost in the mass of nominal church 
members, and do not even know each other. The inner 
circle should be the soul of the congregation, a centre 
of life, warmth, and activity, even when the pastor is 
not what he ought to be. I have had the privilege of 
visiting a few places on this errand, and hope to start 
to-morrow for the town of Kotka for a week. If we 
could form such inner circles in a number of places it 
would be quite natural to have them meet at certain 
times for general conferences. The educated classes 
are very little reached in Finland, and dreadfully ig- 
norant of spiritual things.” 


More than ever did Baron Nicolay ignore health 
and strength. He felt that he had a great deal to ac- 
complish, and that the time was short. In a letter 
written in August to Baron Wrede he writes: “I have 
a feeling that we in Finland will not be allowed to fold 
our hands, but that we must be prepared to hear the 
‘message of Haggai.’ May God grant us wisdom 
and help us find His plan for the Kingdom of God in 
Finland. One must recall our Lord’s words in John 
OC Te 

In Sweden, at the conference in Södertälje and also 
in Stockholm where he broke the journey, he gave sev- 
eral addresses on themes, including two which he had 
especially on his heart: “A Better Life,” and “The Re- 


_, "I must work the works of Him that sent me while it is day; 
the night cometh, when no man can work.” 


The Time of Departure 200 


turn of Christ.” On his return to Finland he devoted 
himself entirely, as the letter to Mr. Sloan suggests, to 
the task of building up inner circles in the congrega- 
tions, visiting also several cities in the south to arouse 
interest in this, the cause he loved. And great 
was his joy whenever he met with appreciation of the 
deep significance of the organisation. When a pas- 
tor in Borgå used the expression "A Union of the 
Friends of the Lord,” Baron Nicolay immediately 
voiced his appreciation of the name he had employed— 
“The Friends of the Lord—that is just the right 
term!” And in his diary we find the little episode 
noted down. 

Towards the close of the year tiredness again began 
to steal over him; even in his addresses a certain ex- 
haustion often being noticeable. He was conscious of 
it himself, and often troubled by it. At the end of a 
series of talks he wrote: “TI feel as if I had been taking 
a lot of examinations.” But he succeeded, neverthe- 
less, through his fight against weariness and through 
his characteristic self-denial in giving his audience un- 
usually much. For never before had he been more anx- 
ious to “die himself” in order to lead the cause of his 
Lord to victory. Once, after addressing a gathering 
in Kotka, he was thanked in the name of all present by 
one who said he had been like John Hus, lifting a lamp 
to the Gospel but himself remaining in the shadow. 
Of this he wrote in his diary, “This word rejoiced me 
more than any she could have said; it was just what I 
had prayed for before coming here.” 

December was spent by Baron Nicolay in the quiet 
of Monrepos, engrossed in the cares connected with 


234 Baron Paul Nicolay 


the sale of property in the suburbs and in the writing 
down of a Bible study on the First Epistle to the Thes- 
salonians, which he had given in Wiborg. He and his 
sisters knelt in prayer while this year, the last he was 
to live through in its entirety, came to a close. In the 
usual New Year’s meditation in his diary we read:* 
“A terrible year—revolution, civil war, and famine; 
and yet God has provided for us in every way most 
graciously, and we have lacked nothing. I pray Him 
to be with us this coming year and to make me a better 
Christian.” 

A better Christian—these words might be said to be 
the motto of the last year of Paul Nicolay’s life. In 
January he wrote:* “Am not at all feeling bright and 
hopeful for the beginning of this year. Maybe it is 
physical depression. Whatever is to happen, my main 
duty is to keep trusting God quietly. Then all is all 
right, and even violent death would be nothing to dis- 
turb my peace.” He continues his work in the churches 
of various cities during the winter and spring, and also 
keeps up his Bible studies in Wiborg. But throughout, 
it was as if one thought, the consciousness of all that 
he still lacked in holiness was, along with his intense 
desire for the return of Christ, gaining more and more 
dominion over his inner life. "God's aim with us is 
not only to have us saved, but to ‘slipa adelstenar till 
Kristi krona.” ” ? The suffering, caused by the phys- 
ical weakness he had daily to overcome in his work, he 
thought of merely as the instrument of the “grinder” 
and was eager only to be complete victor over his old, 


1 Quoted from his English diary. 
2 Grind the jewels for the crown of Christ. 


The Time of Departure 20 


not yet entirely subdued, ego. His shattered nerves 
often tempted him to be hasty or impatient; but he did 
not retire from active life on account of this personal 
excuse. “During a temptation to unfriendliness the 
thought “deny thyself’? brought immediate relief,” he 
once writes. And on another occasion it is, “Crucify 
thyself.” “He can not be my disciple” in any other 
way. No comforting words can avail except this be 
one’s attitude toward the ego. 

In the spring Baron Nicolay’s heart showed symp- 
toms of weakness, and the doctor forbade his preach- 
ing in churches, which injunction he partly ignored. 
In the congregational groups his Bible studies were at 
this time on the Second Epistle to the Thessalonians 
and on the Book of Job. When he was to speak he 
experienced, as during the early years of his religious 
work, a deep dread, a feeling of impotence for the 
task. “The Devil can frighten but he can not hinder,” 
words which Mr. Wilder had once said to him, and 
which he would often quote, were now as before made 
real to him. He always sought strength in quietness 
before God. At times he felt even too weak to pray, 
and he then tried to devote an hour to “quiet waiting 
on God.” “Tt is hard, but it ought to help,” he wrote 
of this. In May he held his last Bible study for the 
congregational groups, on receiving the Holy Spirit. 
In commenting on Romans 7:6 he emphasised that 
one condition for this was self-denial, another faith in 
the Holy Spirit. Both conditions were equally un- 
changeable. When some one later insisted that all one 
had to do was to wait for the Spirit, Baron Nicolay 


236 Baron Paul Nicolay 


replied: “That is true, but in order to wait we must be 
obedient.” 

This thought, that the Spirit can not grow within a 
man until his heart is as it should be, he also empha- 
sised in his Bible courses at the Y. W. C. A. Summer 
School at Vasa in July, where he went straight from 
the Student Conference at Ilmajoki. At Vasa—con- 
trary to all expectations, for he did not usually enjoy 
conferences just for women—he really experienced 
happy days. He felt that there was almost “revival in 
the air.” And those who were then present at Vasa 
had a feeling that there radiated from Paul Nicolay a 
power which was not his own. In his usual quiet way 
he went around—possibly less inclined than ever be- 
fore to assert himself—mingling naturally with the 
delegates, and with his same quiet sense of humour. 
But his face seemed to reveal something new. 


“The beautiful meetings of the day were over,” we 
read in an article by Madame af Forselles in “Ad Lu- 
cem.” “The Northern bright spirit of night had settled 
over land and sea, and we were walking quietly home- 
ward. The last rays of the sun cast a strange gleam over 
our path. I said something about how helpful the day’s 
Bible Study had been, and how real to me had become 
God’s power to save me from my own ego. ‘What I 
said came straight from the furnace,’ slowly answered 
Baron Nicolay. Was it the sun’s last farewell which 
was reflected on his countenance, or was another light 
already enveloping him? I know not; but one thing 
I know, that the meaning of Jesus’ words, ‘Ye are the 
light of the world,’ then became real to me, while I be- 


The Time of Departure 207 


came suddenly aware that Paul Nicolay was not long 
to remain with us.” 


There were not many who, like Madame af Forselles, 
already surmised the imminent departure of Baron 
Nicolay. He had never been strong, and those who 
saw him in full activity at Ilmajoki and Vasa during 
the summer days, with his eyes fixed on new tasks, 
could not naturally realise that his working day was 
nearing its end. To him, as we know, the thought of 
death had never seemed very distant, and is often men- 
tioned in letters and in his diary of his last summer. 

In the beginning of June he wrote to Baron K. A. 
Wrede: “It seems monotonous and boresome here, es- 
pecially since I can not walk fast or exert myself with- 
out getting out of breath. The doctors say that it is 
not heart failure but hardening of the arteries. They 
are all reminders of age and that we have not here a 
lasting abode, but look for and expect a better one.” 
Yet immediately afterwards he looks forward once 
more to the long-planned-for Keswick Conference. 
“You will be sixty years old on September 18th, when 
we will all be together in Borgå. Henrik promises to 
be there. Remember this meeting daily in your 
prayers. For if God's Spirit is not there, all will be in 
vain.” From Nådendal, “that boresome place” where 
he had been forced to go from Vasa for his health, 
and where he finds the hours spent alone on the rocks 
are the best, he writes to the same friend on July 13th: 


“As I am about to enter on my sixtieth year to- 
morrow, I would like to end this year with a little talk 


238 Baron Paul Nicolay 


with you. The doctor here says that I am suffering 
from advanced hardening of the arteries, and does not 
hope much from the baths here. This does not worry 
me, but stimulates me rather to live as close as possi- 
ble to the Lord during the remainder of my life.” 


In Nådendal he felt that he had “far too little to 
do,” and rejoices over every occasion to be of service, 
especially if he could help a seeking soul by a private 
conversation. One day he spoke in the chapel of the 
town. And during his whole stay he also kept up the 
extensive correspondence, which he had gradually come 
to regard as “a part of the service.” This correspond- 
ence was now chiefly concerning: the autumn confer- 
ence at Borgå, tc preparation, for which he devoted 
himself as far as possible after having left Nadendal 
with joy on August 7th. He felt, in spite of every- 
thing, strengthened by the cure.* “My nerves are much 
better, my memory has also grown a trifle better,” he 
writes in his diary, “and that ought to be profitable for 
the work.” He was at that time’ also working on his 
“Studies on the Second Epistle to the Thessalonians” — 
a book which was practically completed by August 19th. 

Three days later Baron Nicolay was taken. ill and 
had to send for the doctor, who diagnosed it as para- 
typhoid. His first thought was,’ “As I am always un- 
well before important meetings, this may be an ‘intro- 
duction’ to Borga meeting. If God wants to weaken 
me, I have no objection.” He could at first simply not 
believe that he would have to stay away from this con- 


1 Quoted from his English diary. 


The Time of Departure 239 


ference, whose every detail he had lived himself into. 
During his illness he writes, September 8th, to his 
English friend Mr. Sloan about all his plans and fears 
for the Conference. He also writes of his work in the 
churches, and adds, “Perhaps I shall continue it this 
winter, if God does not lay me aside.” God makes no 
mistakes—this comforting thought came to Paul Nico- 
lay when he saw the day for the opening of the Borgå 
Conference approach without any improvement in his 
condition. When this day, the 16th, dawned, he wrote 
to his friend at Karlstorp: “I am still ill and in my 
fourth week in bed, but the fever is beginning to di- 
minish. Not to have been able to attend the Confer- 
ence at Borga is certainly a disappointment, but I in- 
terpret it thus, that the Lord will bring blessing through 
another.” And in his diary we find the characteristic 
words: "Can't understand God's ways, but need not.” 
Baron Nicolay followed the progress of the Conference 
by means of the many letters he received from dele- 
gates. His thoughts and prayers embraced every single 
speech and every critical moment, and they reached 
their goal, for the universal impression of the Con- 
ference was that Baron Nicolay’s presence had never 
seemed so real as now when he was not there. At the 
close of the Conference he was visited by one of his 
young friends, Pastor A. Lehtonen, who gave him a 
verbal report of the days at Borga, as well as of the 
Northern Student Conference which had been held in 
Denmark in August. 

The doctors had now declared the disease itself to be 
over, but a great weakness still overpowered him. On 


240 Baron Paul Nicolay 


September 25th, the "critical day” of the year, Baron 
Nicolay sat up waiting for the great event he longed 
for. ‘No, not yet,” he wrote that evening in his diary. 
It seemed for a few days as if his strength was begin- 
ning to return. Even when forced to stay in bed he 
had not been willing to be idle, but read proof for an 
edition of his pamphlet on the Divinity of Christ which 
was to be published in Sweden. Now he devoted him- 
self with renewed energy to all the work which he 
could do while convalescing, spending an entire day 
packing Russian books to be sent to America to be 
printed in new editions. On the 30th he came down to 
dinner for the first time, but going up and down the 
steep steps which led to his room proved too much of 
an exertion. For the second time since he was taken 
ill he was seized in the night of October 2nd by a severe 
attack of asthma, an entry about this event being the 
last written with his own hand in his diary. On the 
same day as the books were sent off he wrote to sev- 
eral people—to Prince Bernadotte about the Conference 
at Borga, to Miss Marie Bréchet, Countess Pahlen, his 
sister, and Father Joseph de Broglie, a French cousin, 
remembering them especially as they were ill—and a 
day later followed greetings to Baron K. A. Wrede: 


“Thanks, dear friend, for your most welcome lines. 
May you return with joy and blessing to your work at 
Helsingfors. To me this is a time of testing and of 
discipline from the Lord. I have been ill for six weeks, 
and now, as I was beginning to get better, was attacked 
with asthma, more violently than ever before, and by a 
rising temperature. God alone knows if I will ever be 


The Time of Departure 241 


able to continue my former work. Give my warmest 
regards to Gertrude. I am now ill in bed again. 
“Affectionately your old friend, 
i PAULA 


No definite indication of the writer’s consciousness 
of his approaching departure is found here. Neither 
did he drop any remark to that effect to his sisters, who 
cared for him tenderly, and sought to ease his pain and 
help him pass the time. Only to Pastor Valkama did 
he once say: “I know not how this illness will end, but 
when God calls me I am ready.” He was very grateful 
to all around him, and developed a wonderful patience 
in his affliction. 

On the night before October 6th came the third and 
last attack of asthma. Neither ice nor medicine availed. 
And shortly before one o’clock in the morning the fight 
was over, and, in the presence of his sisters, Paul Nico- 
lay, without a sigh, went quietly to sleep. 

The Master he was waiting for had at last come— 
not to the world, but to one of the souls who belonged 
to Him. 


All who knew and loved him were deeply grieved to 
learn of Baron Nicolay’s death. But while some only 
felt the emptiness without him, and could not under- 
stand the purpose of God’s calling one of His best 
workers home at such a difficult time, others realised 
that the measure of Paul Nicolay’s suffering and toil 
on earth had been filled, and that he was ripe for the 
rest in the arms of the Father. And many—those 
who had been closest to him—felt that rest was not to be 


242 Baron Paul Nicolay 


the only accompaniment of death, but that God could 
still use His servant in other and greater ways. Paul 
Nicolay himself had once said of a friend who was 
called away just ashe was about to undertake a new 
and blessed work: “Why should God do it? But 
promoted must be the right term to employ about her.” 
The same thought is found in a letter written after his 
death by the friend who understood him better than 
any other. To the sisters of Baron Nicolay Mr. Wilder 
wrote: * 


"We have learned from Dr. Karl Fries in Sweden of 
your good brother being called away to a higher serv- 
ice. The news was a great blow to me, as I had hoped 
to see Paul in our little home in Norway next sum- 
TED ees 
“Tt is well with Paul, for as the great Apostle states, 
‘To depart and be with Christ is far better.’ Have you 
noticed how the great Apostle after whom Paul was 
named described death? “The time of my departure is 
at hand,’? he says. The word translated departure in 
the Greek is analusis, a nautical term. Death to Paul 
was a Sailing out onto a sea of great opportunity and 
privilege, not a coming into port for rest. Tennyson 
has evidently borrowed his thought from St. Paul in the 
words: 


“Sunset and evening star 
And one clear call for me. 
And may there be no moaning at the bar 
When I put out to sea.’ ” 


1 Quoted from the English letter. 
211 Timothy 4:6. mgt 


The Time of Departure 243 


To Baron Nicolay’s family who remembered him as 
the eager young sailor, this picture given by his friend 
became very precious. As time passed, the more did 
they also experience how true was the thought ex- 
pressed by another friend in a reminiscence of him: 
that death does not separate us from him who is “on 
the other side of Christ,” but only veils him from our 
sight.* 

October 11, 1919, Baron Nicolay was laid to rest 
in the grave at Ludwigstein which he had had prepared 
during his lifetime. A great number of friends had 
come to Monrepos to be with him on this his last voy- 
age on earth. One who was then present, Mme. Helmi 
Gulin, has written a description of it in which she suc- 
ceeded in catching something of the quiet beauty of the 
event. 


“Tn autumn attire stood the lovely park of Monrepos 
on October 11th. Heavy and moist, as if tear dewed, 
hung the yellow leaves on the aged trees. Nature had 
garbed herself in mourning. A sign of mourning also 
was the black flag covering the family arms over the 
door of entrance, and the catafalque wreathed with 
laurel in the centre of the court-yard. In the large and 
silent rooms where ancient art and memories of the 
past greet you at every step, and where all was now in 
order for the ceremony, it seemed strangely silent. It 
was not a sense of sorrow and death, but something 


1 Of comfort also were these words found in his diary for 1904; 
“Tf God takes me, I want my people to look upon it not as a sad. 
but a joyful event, not to look with carnal eyes at the visible side, 
but to think that I have dropped my earthly shell and my soul is 
free and in the glorious presence of Jesus Christ... . If I could 
by prayer prolong my life on earth, I would not.” 


244 Baron Paul Nicolay 


like a breath of eternity which was felt on approaching 
one of the music rooms. There he lay, the noble man 
of the humble heart and with his child-like faith in 
God, fallen asleep in death. In his flower-bedecked 
casket, surrounded by the portraits of his forefathers, 
reposed the last male descendant of his line. . . . 

“Long before the hour appointed for the interment 
a continuous stream of friends, acquaintances, and de- 
pendents wandered towards the peaceful resting place. 
Both old and young, and children from the posses- 
sions of Monrepos, all came with their simple tribute 
of flowers to take a last farewell of their beloved mas- 
ter. And on every face seemed to linger a gleam of the 
peace of the departed one. How real became the words 
read by the German Pastor Wegener at the open coffin: 
‘If our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, 
we have a building of God, an house not made with 
hands, eternal in the heavens.’ For a while the sisters’ 
look lingered on those beloved features, before they 
were to be hidden away until the Resurrection morn- 
ing. 

“While the children of Monrepos shyly, with their 
tiny clear voices, sang a hymn, their benefactor was 
borne for the last time through the rooms of his child- 
hood’s home. In the courtyard he was greeted by the 
song of the school children of Sorvali. And after the 
coffin was lowered onto the catafalque, around which 
the volunteer fire corps of Monrepos stood guard with 
banners of mourning, followed a homage of flowers in 
token of what the life of the departed had been in 
sacrificing himself for the good of others. One 
deputation after another came forward, and in every 


The Time of Departure 245 


speech was felt an undertone of deep loss and gratitude. 

“When the impressive ceremony in the court-yard 
was over, twilight had already set in. Through the park 
the coffin was now borne towards the burial island of 
Ludwigstein, whose grey monuments were dimly visible 
against the dark sky. In front of the coffin walked 
the Bishop of the Diocese, and slowly was the ap- 
proach made to the shore where the ferry waited. 
While the choir of the Swedish Church sang: ‘Jerusa- 
lem, bort fran Jordens grus’ (Jerusalem, away from 
the sorrow of earth), the ferry glided slowly away 
from the shore. For the last time the owner of Mon- 
repos was now being brought to his beloved Ludwig- 
stein, where he so often used to go at sunset to listen 
to the splash of the waves or the gentle song of the 
/Eolian harps in the tower. Now they were singing to 
his own spirit in its flight. 

“Like an echo from another world sounded from the 
mountain top the song of the deaconesses as the coffin 
was carried up from the ferry: ‘Tidehvarf komma, 
Tidehvarf forsvinna, slackte folger slacktes gang,’ and, 
as twilight deepened the coffin was borne along the 
mountain path to the foot of the tower. There the 
service was conducted by Bishop Colliander who spoke 
on Philippians 3: 7-14, words which so well applied to 
the life of him who had gone home. The darkness 
increased, and sadly rustled the tall fir trees as the 
coffin was once more lifted and carried down the steep 
slope to the spot nearer the shore, which Baron Nicolay 
had selected for his last resting place. As in a dream 
we followed. Now they turned to the right, and in 
deep silence the son was borne past the open vault of 


246 Baron Paul Nicolay 


his parents’ tomb. A few more steps, and the coffin 
was lowered. And behold! Just then the moon rose 
above the horizon, sending silvery paths across the 
water toward the grave. Was it not as if heaven had 
opened, shedding a gleam of that light which now sur- 
rounds the departed one into the hearts of the mourn- 
ers? And in the quiet of the evening could be heard 
Pastor Wegener’s voice: "Eye hath not seen, nor ear 
heard, neither hath entered into the heart of man, the 
things which God hath prepared for them that love 
Him.’ Beloved eyes are closed forever, eyes which 
could wear so serious and yet so loving a look, but they 
have closed only to open in a new, a better, a more 
glorious world. And that mouth, which through its 
testimony had led so many to the Lord, is silenced, but 
only to sing praises in that land where death is swal- 
lowed up in victory. 


“ (berwunden der Erde Leid, 
Uberwunden der Seele Streit, 
Rein erfunden vor Gottes Thron, 
Teuer erkauft durch Gottes Sohn, 
Reingewaschen durch Jesu Blut, 
Wohl dir, wohl dir, du hast es gut. 


€€ € 


In weissen Kleide im Tempel des Herrn, 

Mit Friedenspalmen, dem Morgenstern, 

Mit Lebenskronen aus Jesu Hand, 

‘Mein Kind’ aus dem Munde des Höchsten genannt— 
Durch Kampfen zum Sieg, 

Durch Glauben zum Schauen, 

Uberwunden der Kampf und das Todesgrauen, 
Uberwunden im Glauben durch Jesu Blut, 

Wohl dir, wohl dir, du hast es gut.’ 


The Time of Departure 247 


" "Peace, perfect peace,’ resounded the last song of 
the choir by the side of the grave. In peace, perfect 
peace, rests now the weary warrior with battles passed. 
What he once said of the hardships and sufferings of 
life—‘Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, 
worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal 
weight of glory’—was so soon to become a reality for 
him. The peace of the autumn night envelops Mon- 
repos. Still sounds from the tower the gentle song 
of the A£olian harp, like notes of peace from the eternal 
world. Peace envelops the flower-bedecked grave. 
The noble man, who in himself was nothing but to 
whom Christ was everything, has gone into a greater 
light, into the presence of the Master he so faithfully 
loved and served, and of whose glory his life will con- 
tinue to witness long after his death.” 


Soli Deo Gloria 


Nothing in himself; this phrase which often means 
so little to us has a real significance when applied to 
Paul Nicolay. To his own nature may be ascribed 
the shortcomings that were his through life, while all 
the good which radiated from him, and all the good 
he accomplished, was given him from above. Not 
that nature had given him a worse equipment than 
others ; as we have seen he started life with all the quali- 
fications which go to make an able, useful person—he 
had a sound judgment, a pure and noble character, 
and a social position which was calculated to develop 
his talents. But this man, who was not a genius, suc- 
ceeded in the Czar’s Russia in establishing a Movement 
and creating an organisation which would seem to re- 
quire an unusually gifted founder. This reserved and 
timid recluse succeeded in gathering scores of people 
around one great ideal and scattering sunshine across 
their paths, which is seldom granted to any but the most 
devout children of life; and, although no orator, his 
words penetrated deeper and farther than most. These 
facts of his life are inconceivable and unaccountable, 
unless one looks beyond the tool to the Master and gives 
the glory to God alone. 

"A tool in the hand of the Lord,” was what Paul 
Nicolay himself longed to be, and had he known that 
the story of his life should be written, his heartfelt 


desire concerning it might well have been expressed in 
248 


Soli Deo Gloria 249 


the words of the poet: “One does not seek for arrows 
that have been shot, and the hammer which has been 
thrown aside.” Therefore not without hesitation, 
was it decided to break the silence enveloping him, 
neither was it with a light heart that the authoress of 
this work took up her task. The silence was broken, 
and the life of Paul Nicolay written for the same rea- 
son as the words immortalising his own soul’s story 
in the pages of his diary—this book is primarily the 
account of God’s work through a weak and frail man 
who had unreservedly given his life into His hands. 


ON THE ISLE OF DEATH? 


The waves do whisper it, 
The fir trees murmur it, 
The flowers waft it, 
Whither and how? 


The rocks in their brooding 
Incline themselves, gazing 
Down on those wandering— 
Whither and how? 


Many have wandered here 
Living and laughing— 
Many have been borne here, 
Silent in death. 


The graves they do ask it, 
Gently, how quietly— 

The heart in its wondering 
Finds no reply. 


Pause, then, thou wanderer! 
Seest ’twixt the rocks there 
The grave, which now seemeth 
A slumberer’s rest? 


Marked by the symbol 

Of sorrow and victory— 
The cross—from his labours 
Reposes he here. 


2 This poem written at Baron Nicolay’s grave is added to the 
biography by request. Translated by R.E.W. 
250 


On the Isle of Death 251 


Here? Thou recallest 
The question eternal: 
Where is the absent one? 
Whither and how? 


Turn from the grave now 
Thine eyes to the distance, 
To the sea which reflecteth 
The light of the skies. 


Evening approaches— 
The sun as it sinketh 
Now tinteth golden 
The fast fleeting cloud. 


Whispering of waves, and 
Murmuring of fir trees, 
Wondering heart— 

Is all silenced now? 


Hushed in interminable 
Light, thou readest 

The answer for him 

Who is marked by the Cross. 


The answer, the deep 

And powerful answer: 
Found in Christ Jesus, 
From God and to God. 


Ludwigstein, June 21, 1921. 


THE END 





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